A DIFFERENT DRUMMER

Subtitled The Odyssey of a Home Grown Rebel this overlong book is in part autobiography and a chronicle of war experiences, in part a diatribe against war itself. The best part of the book is that dealing with the author's youth in Altoona, Pa., where he was born near the close of World War I and where he grew up, developing a lifelong interest in birds. Like the rest of his generation he was caught in World War II and served with the Army in North Africa and Italy; he saw no active combat but in various positions behind the front met the by-products of war, encountering an unbelievable number of sadistic, stupid and incompetent officers, experiences which fired his rebellion against war. This he voices in lengthy strictures, particularly against the Korean War and Truman, of whom he makes the surprising comment, ""for his statesmanship (regarding Korea) Mr. Truman was rewarded with bitterness and scorn and at last with political defeat"". Heavy-handed, filled with endless pages of purported soldier talk, the book is too ponderous to appeal to the casual intelligent reader; as it is in no way a distinctive addition to the vast list of war autobiographies its value to any library is doubtful.