Book Review: History of the United States to 1941
| Date | 01 December 1955 |
| Published date | 01 December 1955 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205501000412 |
| Author | Kenneth McNaught |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
295
ment.
The
procedure
of
the
House
of
Commons
is
undergoing
substantial
changes.
What
effect
will
all
these
have
on
the
traditional
interplay
between
ministers
and
parliament?
On
all
these
matters
Mr.
Morrison
has
much
to
say
that
is
fresh
and
useful.
Perhaps
the
most
valuable
parts
of
the
book
are where
he
tells
us
how
a
minister
should
treat
his
junior
ministers
and
his
civil
servants,
how
Cabinet Committees
work
and
how
the
Cabinet
keeps
the
whole
system
in
step,
and
how
the
Leader
of
the
House
of
Commons
must
manage
the
House.
The
Man-
chester
Guardian
has
described
Mr.
Morrison
as
"one
of
the
best
of
the
modern
Leaders
of
the
House,"
and
he is
at
his
best
in
telling
us
how
he
went
about
it.
Much
of
the
secrecy
surrounding
the
operation
of
cabinet
government
is
essential
to
the
proper
discharge
of
public
busi-
ness.
But
some
of
it
is
mere
political
prudery.
Mr.
Morrison's
grateful
readers
owe
a
great
deal
to
the
official
decision
that
the
details of
the
organization
of
a
government
which
has
gone
out
of
office
can
be
largely
disclosed
without
damage
to
the
public
interest.
Is
it
too
much
to
hope
that
some
day,
in
Canada,
we
shall
find
an
ex-minister
willing
and
able
to
tell
us
what
we
want
to
know
about
the
Canadian
cabinet?
Should
that
day
come,
we
should
also
hope
that
some
academic
institution
will
nurture
him in
his
task,
and
that
officials
will
lend
him
the
encouragement
which
he deserves.
McGill
University
J.
R.
MALLORY
HISTORY
OF
THE
UNITED
STATES
TO
1941.
By
D.
C.
Somervell.
1955.
(Toronto:
British
Book
Service. xii,
320pp.
$3.25)
Professor
Somervell
is probably
best
known
in
this
country
by
two books:
his
Gladstone and
Disraeli,
and
his
one
volume
abbreviation
of
Toynbee's
Study
of
History.
Whether
this
new
book,
which
is
a
reset
edition
of
a
volume
first
published
in
England
in
1942,
will
enhance
his
reputation
on
this
side
of
the
Atlantic
is
doubtful.
This
brief history
is
designed
primarily
for
readers
in
the
United
Kingdom
and
is
written
with
the
simple
clarity
of
style
that
distinguishes
all
of Somervell's work.
In
the
course
of
a
highly
compressed
survey
which
starts
in
1606,
the
author
main-
tains
a
fine
balance
between
fact
and
argument,
but
in a
book
of
this
length
he
has
little
space
for
the
serious
development
of
particular
themes.
He
is
forced
to
come
up
with
generalized
conclusions which
are
so
condensed
that
they
beg
more
questions
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