Book Review: Backgrounds of Conflict
| Author | S. Mack Eastman |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204700200112 |
| Published date | 01 March 1947 |
| Date | 01 March 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Reviews
to
1815,
followed
by
Dr.
MacKay's
on
responsible
government
and
ex-
ternal
affairs. This
latter
serves
to
introduce
twelve
chapters
by
Professor
Fraser:
four
on
the
French
Shore
question,
four
on
the
American
fishery
question,
and
four
on
relations
with Canada.
All
show
very
clearly
the
notable
part
Newfoundland
played
in
the
development
of Dominion
status
in
external
affairs.
The
final
chapter
is
Dr.
Lower's,
on
New-
foundland's
position
in
modern
strategy.
In
so
large
a
volume,
written
under
such
difficult
conditions,
by
so
many hands,
some
slips
and
a
certain amount
of
repetition
are
inevitable.
To
paraphrase
Dr.
Johnson,
the
wonder
is
not
that
it
was
not
done
perfectly
but that
it
was
done
so
well. There
is
only one
chapter
which
bears
the
marks
of
hasty
writing.
None
the
less,
a
second
edition
could
do
with
some
condensation
and
careful proof-reading. Lord
Granville
was
not
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Colonies
in
January,
1887;
he
retired
with
Mr.
Gladstone's
Government
in
July,
1886
(pp.
299,
300,
301,
and
303).
Joseph
Chamberlain
was
not
Secretary
of
State in
1887;
he
was
out
of
office
altogether
from
1886
to
1895
(p.
356).
Sir Edward
Morris,
in
1908,
did not
ask
for
dissolution
immediately
upon
taking
office,
but
only
after
the
House
had
failed
to
elect
a
Speaker
(p.
398).
Misprints
and
similar
slips
are
irritatingly
numerous,
and
the
index
seems
to
have
followed
no
rule
in
the
use
of
titles.
These,
however,
are
very
minor
matters,
worth
noting
only
because
the
book is
so
extraordinarily
good
that
even
the
slightest
deviation
from
its
high
standard
becomes
conspicuous.
The
authors
are
to
be
most
warmly congratulated
on
a
first
rate
piece
of
work.
Ottawa, August
1946.
Eugene
Forsey
BACKGROUNDS OF
CONFLICT.
Ideas
and Forms
in
World
Politics.
By
Dr.
Kurt
London.
1945.
(New York,
Toronto:
Macmillan.
487pp.
$3.75)
In
BACKGROUNDS OF CONFLICT,
Dr.
Kurt
London's
"chief
purpose
is
to
help
clarify the
systems
and
political
programs
of
the
non-
democratic
countries
of
major
importance."
By
way
of
comparison
or
contrast,
he
offers
appraisals
of
the
democracies of
Great
Britain,
the
United
States,
and the
Third French
Republic,
as
well
as
of
the
Vichy
brand
of
authoritarianism.
Dr. London
writes
clearly
and
carefully,
suggesting
well-balanced
bibliographies
at
the
close
of
each
chapter;
and, taken
as
an
introductory
conspectus,
the
work
leaves
little
to
be
desired.
The
introduction,
con-
sisting
of
a
simplified
summary
of
the
author's
findings,
contains
a
warning,
oft
repeated
in
later
pages,
that
"the
military defeat
of
the
Axis
powers
will
not
automatically
eliminate
their
ideological
convictions."
While
indulging
in
the
epigram
that
totalitarianism
is
in
many
respects
"primitive
tribalism
in technological
dress,"
the
author
deals
finally
with
the
rare virtues
as
well
as
the
grand
vices
of
Nazi
Germany,
Fascist
Italy,
and
contemporary
Japan. For
example,
while
stressing
the
anti-intellectual
tendencies
of
Nazism,
he
notes
that
"Geopolitics
pro-
85
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