FROM MY LEVEL

The American reader has probably never heard of Sir George Mallaby, and it is doubtful whether many of his own countrymen could place the name right off. This is not surprising, and in no way reflects on the quality of Sir George's memoirs, because he was that very invisible sort of creature, the British civil servant. His career was hardly undistinguished--it was climaxed by the positions of Under-Secretary in the Cabinet Office and High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in New Zealand--but the most important thing about it was that it placed him on ""a convenient level for observation."" And his powers of observation were superb. He is not concerned with matters of policy. In fact, it would be hard to determine his opinions on many of the issues which serve only as backdrops. It is the men with whom he came in contact that attract his attention: Churchill, Atlee, Bevin, Macmillan, Montgomery and many more. These men are not revealed with any degree of intimacy or depth, but their mannerisms and chance remarks betray their private attitudes. Limited.