Current interest in and concern with Greece and our commitments there will make this book of immediate interest to many who have not previously provided a market. Stationed in Greece for more than 18 months as a military attache (1944-46) the author made it his business to inform himself through study and first hand investigation of the perplexing situation he found there. This book shares those findings with a similarly perplexed public. He has succeeded in keeping an objective viewpoint, while not hesitating to recognize the compensating circumstances and contributing causes which have led to a virtual elimination of any middle ground, with which we should like to deal, and the pressure factors which have resulted in extremes of right and left psychology and performance, with which- in almost equal measure- we are basically out of sympathy. The historical steps which led to the development of these forces of conflict, to the inevitability of civil war, are recounted in concise terms, shorn, perhaps, of the drama and color and anecdotal quality which would make this more vivid reading, but with an authoritative sense of sound reporting that gives the background the reader needs today. A useful book, quick highspotting of modern history in the making, brief pen portraits of the leaders.
Pub Date: May 28, 1947
ISBN: 1175954853
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1947
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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