Book Review: The French Nation, De la IIIe à la IVe République, France. Government and People
| DOI | 10.1177/004711785700100813 |
| Date | 01 October 1957 |
| Published date | 01 October 1957 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
mind, character
and
physique-the
last essential
to
withstand the demands
of
a
most exacting
job
and
of
aMinister
of
Defence whose favourite
hour
for con-
ference was between one and two in the morning. Although condemned by his
indispensability with the Chiefs
of
Staff,
or
by the exigencies
of
the partnership
with the United States, to forgo the command in the field which was his dearest
wish
and
which would have inevitably led
to
his taking his place amongst the
great captains, he never allowed his disappointment
to
sour him. His chagrin
must have been especially great over the appointment
of
an
American as Supreme
Commander in Europe to carry out astrategy he had planned
and
fought for, a
post, moreover, which
had
been promised
to
him.
In
spite
of
this his final verdict
on
Churchill
is
unaffected by it
"He
is
quite the most difficult
man
to work with
that Ihave ever struck
but
Iwould
not
have missed the chance
of
working with
him for anything
on
earth". One fact emerges clearly, that although Lord Alan-
brook was unrivalled as asoldier, his grasp
of
the underlying political difficulties
was far less sure. Fortunately he was called upon to fight atotal war in which
military needs took precedence over all political considerations.
The Second Lesson. Bernard Moore. Macmillan. 21/-.
This
is
acomparatively slight book but one that may well do far more good
than avery much weightier treatise.
It
is
concerned
not
with
an
analysis
of
the
achievements, failures
and
constitutional problems
of
the United Nations but
with the place, the people and the atmosphere, which are described with shrewd-
ness tempered with humour
and
served up with agarnish
of
extremely good
stories.
Mr. Moore's first lesson was as permanent correspondent
at
Geneva in the
nineteen-twenties, his second, covering
UNO
for the BBC, lasted seven years
and
ended
at
the moment
of
the package deal admitting the new candidates and.
therefore, except for abrief footnote, the book does
not
deal with the latest
events. But this does
not
vitiate its value.
He
gives
an
excellent account
of
the
intricacies
of
the veto, the Uniting for Peace machinery and the pros
and
cons
of
Chinese representation
and
deals illuminatingly with Secretariat loyalties and
the disadvantages
of
the United States as the headquaters
of
an
international
organization.
He
is deeply concerned with the perils attendant upon transferring
the power
of
decision
to
the Assembly, abody the majority
of
whose members
are
not
responsible for implementing the decisions they vote. This, taken together
with the increasing tendency
to
debate any contentious issue which any member
may place on the agenda, may well
tum
the United Nations, as aForeign
Minister recently
put
it, into
"an
institution for the organization
of
collective
chaos". Written by afirm believer in international organizations, one who has
served them and holds that,
if
anything
is
to
survive, they will, this
is
arealistic
and
good-tempered account
of
the inevitable obstacles
to
rapid
or
spectacular
success in this most diffiuclt field, concerned with the harmonization
of
the
irreconcilably opposed interests
of
nations.
The French Nation.
From
Napoleon to petain. 1814-1940. D.
W.
Brogan.
Hamish Hamilton. 2S/-.
De la
me
Ii la IVe Republique. Andre Siegfried. Paris, Grasset.
780
frs.
France. Government and People. J. M. Wallace-Hadrill
and
John McManners.
Editors. Methuen. 2S/-.
These three books
aU
throw light
on
the present plight
of
France whether
directly
or
indirectly. Together they will enable the reader not only
to
under-
stand the roots
of
the problems which beset her path, but
to
add
to
his under-
standing
of
the political tangle insight
and
appreciation
of
the more enduring
qualities which have made her such acivilizing influence in the world.
Both Dr. Brogan
and
Mon. Siegfried emphasize the dichotomy between the
Frenchman as aprivate citizen
and
the Frenchman as apolitical animal; a
contrast which Dr. Brogan epitomizes as the constant conflict between the
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