Marshall Tito

"Marshal Tito," By Michael Padev, does much to dispel the mystery surrounding this great leader and his heroic army. It is no weighty tome a la Gibbon (that is left as a fascinating study for some future scholar) but a sketch of the man, his background and his achievements. In simple, lucid style his history is told, his policy discussed and his portent estimated.

Few people here realise that for 20 years before the war Tito had been fighting a dangerous but resolute struggle against the tyrannical rulers of his country. His five years in prison (where he underwent savage torture), the "railway" by which volunteers were smuggled into the International Brigade, the underground work in Yugoslavia led inevitably to the great task of liberating his people from a foreign oppressor. The progressive coalition began organising their revolt immediately after the fall of Belgrade. At one time the partisans were engaging more German divisions, than the British Army. The truly democratic administration of the liberated areas, the solution of the bitter racial problems, his wise and patient handling of the treacherous Michailovitch are touched on. The book is interspersed with eye-witness accounts of the indescribable barbarity of the Nazis. Some people prefer not to believe such facts. They should at least know of their existence, as presented in these moving pages.