A TRAIN OF POWDER

by West Rebecca ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 18, 1955

Reporting that is significant as social history is a rare achievement, and when-as in the hands of Rebecca West -- it is also at times great literature and almost constantly great writing, the result is a must for readers and good citizens. Here is a collection of essays exploring current events in the light of the changing scene,- in Germany, in England, in America. Three deal with post-war Germany, and center around the Nuremberg trials and the Berlin airlift. The 21 Nazis stand out not only as individuals but as symbols of a defeat that was death on the one hand and survival in terms we are living today on the other. In nothing else this reader has seen on the trials does the psychology of the thinking of the proponents, the lawyers of different nationalities, the understanding of the people come out so vividly, clarifying the reasons for success and failure. There's a sinister significance in her interpretation that bodes ill for the future, laying as it does ""a train of powder"" to a new explosion implicit in the measure and the kind of revival in Germany today...The two murder trials, one of them a South Carolina lynching case, the other a torso murder, as yet unsolved, in Britain, contribute to interpretation of the moods and tempo of the peoples of both areas, and make extraordinary reading besides. And the espionage case, against a British background, provides yet another facet, and leaves a grave question of interpretation and significance in the mind of the reader. Socio-psychic studies, the publishers call them-- and this they are, in the broadest sense of the term. Superb craftsmanship, good narrative sense, and penetrating interpretation combine to make this another real contribution to her achievements. Don't miss.

Pub Date: March 18, 1955

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1955

Categories: NONFICTION