Book Review: The Life of Neville Chamberlain
| DOI | 10.1177/002070204700200313 |
| Date | 01 September 1947 |
| Published date | 01 September 1947 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book
Reviews
What
Mr.
Martin
describes
as
a
Gleichschaltung
of
the
Allied
press
and
radio
can
certainly
be
explained
in
simpler,
less
dramatic
terms.
It
was,
as
the
author
states,
late
in
1942
when
Western
newsmen made
the
discovery
of
Tito.
Since
the partisan
resistance
movement
was
over
a
year
old,
they
became
immediately
suspicious
of
what
seemed a
delib-
erate attempt
on
the
part
of
the
6migr6
government
to
curtain
the
news.
It
would
be
true
to
say
that
from
that
time on
editors
were
suspicious
of
both
sides,
not
excluding
the
highly
colored
communiques
of
the
partisans.
Mr.
Martin
quotes
a
Serbian
peasant
reproach,
"You
lie
like
London."
After
the
affair
of
the
Vishegrad bridge,
the
Chetniks
may
well
have
been
sceptical.
But
so
were
the
partisans.
In
1943
for
example
their
units infiltrated
Susak,
hung
on
for
two
days and
were
then
expelled.
Shortly afterwards
the
Yugoslav
ambassador
in Washington
announced
that
Chetniks
had
"captured"
Susak.
As
for
the
notion
that
only
friendly
correspondents were
permitted
to
enter
Yugoslavia,
this
reviewer
can
vouch
for
the fact
that
of
the
first
party
to
enter
Belgrade,
some,
including
the
representative
of
a
great
American
agency,
were
violently
anti-Tito.
Mr.
Martin
has
not
thought
it
worth
while
to
quote
from
the
evidence
at
the
Belgrade
trial.
He
may
well
be
sceptical
of
those
remarkable
proceedings.
It
was
however
noticeable
that
on
anything
touching
his
military
honor,
Draza Mihailovitch
showed
considerable
spirit.
He
prided
himself
on
being
the
"first
insurgent"
in occupied
Europe,
yet
admitted
that
the
first
attack
may
well
have
come
from
the
partisan
side.
This would
have
been
some
time
before
the
Nazi
attack
on
Russia
which
hardly
squares
with
the
argument
in
ALLY
BETRAYED.
There
is,
however,
a
very
great
deal in
David
Martin's
book
with
which
one
can
agree.
Lying propaganda
can
too
easily
make
a
"traitor"
out
of
a
patriot.
There
is
still
a
very
great
deal
in
the
Yugoslav
story
which
remains
obscure.
This
work
will
certainly
provoke
further
testimony
and gradually
we
shall
learn the
truth.
But
even
the
most
ingenious
oversimplification
will
not
do
and
it
is
rather
too
much
to
claim,
with
the jacket
of
ALLY
BETRAYED
that
one
volume
can
dispel
the
"fog
of
war."
Regina,
February
1947.
M.
A.
Western
THE
LIFE
OF
NEVILLE
CHAMBERLAIN.
By
Keith Feiling.
1946.
(Toronto:
Macmillan.
ix,
475pp.
$5.00,
members
$4.00)
As
an
Oxford
don
who
has
specialized
in
the
history
of
the
Tory
party,
Professor Feiling
was
an
excellent
choice
for
the
biographer
of
Neville
Chamberlain.
Although
he
had
never
met
the
late Prime
Min-
ister,
he
was
fortunate
in
being
given
a completely
free hand
by
the
Chamberlain
family
who
expressed the
commendable
desire
not to
see
any
part
of
the
manuscript
before
publication. From
them he
secured
diaries
extending
over
half
a
century
and,
what
proved
to
be
the
most
valuable
source
of
all,
a
series
of
weekly
letters written
to
his
surviving
sisters
between
1916
and
1940
which were,
Mr.
Feiling
says
"the
full
269
To continue reading
Request your trial