THE HOUSE OF EUROPE

The story -- as Paul Mowrer experienced it in his 24 years as European correspondent -- ends in 1934, when he came back to take charge of the Daily News (Chicago) foreign office. But already, as his book reveals, he was only too keenly aware of the progress being made towards World War II. This is his autobiography, -- a boyhood and youth that will have nostalgic appeal to countless men who look back to similar backgrounds a generation ago; an appointment at 22 to go to Paris as Chicago News correspondent, far enough ahead of World War I so that he was able to report the course of that war with much broader base of knowledge than his competitors. There is a goodly alice of his book devoted to those reports -- recalling a period than somehow fades into a distant blur and bringing it to life again. The most interesting part of his book is that of the years between the wars, when he traveled extensively, studying conditions in the Balkans, in Central Europe, in the Baltic states, in North Africa where he broke into the more or less unreported Riff war. Throughout the book, the reader meets now famous figures in their first European jobs, particularly Raymond Gram Swing and Mowrer's younger brother, Edgar. Paul Mowrer's visit to Spain showed him where that country was tending -- and he broke the news a few strides ahead of the start of hostilities...Not an inspired piece of writing, but a down-to-earth view of world approaching chaos. There's little of news value -- there's almost a sense of dating, both in matter and manner. But as the autobiography of one of the seniors in foreign correspondents' service, the book is authoritative and worth reading.