5 JANUARY 1962, page 33

Party Sheepdog

Chief Whip. By Viscount Chilston. (Routledge, • •Kegan Paul, 45s.). POLITICAL biography is a demanding art whose chief difficulty lies in striking a balance between the personal......

Cwsarian Birth

The Edge of the Sword. By Netanel Lorch. (Putnam, 45s.) RECENT events in Syria sharply remind us of the perennial, resurgent undercurrents of the Middle East, seldom still for......