A TIME TO ACT: Selected Addresses

Archibald MacLeish, poet, critic, librarian of the Library of Congress, a vital factor in the O.W.I., is a ""public servant"" in all the best senses of the term. He has been constantly in demand as a speaker on many occasions, and before many groups, in the past two years, and his gift for pungent, challenging speech, straight from the shoulder, no holds barred, has won for him the enviable --and unusual -- position of being one man whose speeches, when not heard, are read and discussed. Now comes this slim volume of his ""selected addresses"" -- most of them as vital today as when they were made. The Responsibility of the Press and The Strategy of Truth caused fireworks when they were given: We Cannot Escape History helped clarify the position of the U.S. with relation to Canada before Pearl Harbor; Prophets of Disaster and To the Class of 1941 both showed a clear vision of the problem of war in relation to a generation which had grown up doubting the printed word. The American Cause and Divided We Fall were fearless challenges to those who were ""on the fence""; Washington is America left the quibblers and critics of Washington somewhat more hesitant about wholesale condemnations and sweeping generalities. The Power of the Book and The Battleground of the Mind were trumpet calls to leaders of thought, makers and sellers and distributors of books-to make good their opportunity. And, finally, The Image of Victory was a clarifying thrust towards sounder thinking along the path of the future. Most of us will want to read -- or reread -- what this leader of thought says. Here is the chance.