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The Spike or Victoria University College Review 1933

Review

Review

"Cry Havoc"—Beverley Nichols.

(Jonathan Cape.)

Dedicated to—

Those mothers whose sons are still alive.

"This is not a book, only a few desperate enquiries by one who, in the past, has been pleased to use his pen only as an instrument to trace pretty patterns .... not as a battering ram to break down the ugly walls of prejudice."

That is the author's explanation of his position. The prejudice that he is trying to break down is the belief in war, and the course of the "few desperate enquiries" is an investigation of everything from the press room at Geneva to the inside of a gas-mask testing chamber. It is at the armament firms that the battering ram is first directed. There is little doubt as to the sinister part they play, especially in France, where they control the banks and the press. "More deaths, more dividends. More blood, more bonuses." That is the position. All quite respectable, too, and so "more than one bishop supplements the income he obtains from serving the Prince of Peace by also investing in the business of the God of War." The effect of poison gas and the efficacy of gas masks is considered, and the position of an oil-burning navy in an oil-less empire reviewed. The statement that the Officers Training Corps (the equivalent to our college cadets) is more Platonic than Prussian the author finds he cannot swallow.

"For years I have yawned whenever I read the word 'Geneva' "—so to Geneva Mr. Nichols went to enquire into the League of Nations. He comes away thoroughly convinced of the utility and efficiency of the League, and equally convinced that the lords of the press do not want such a condition acknowledged. (Hence the yawn.) In the form of debates between conscientious objector and professional soldier, capitalist and socialist, are the divergent views on war and pacifism set out.

The author then sums up. He considers "What is War's Ultimate Cause?" and the unalterable and only possible conclusion is that it is Patriotism. An unpleasant statement, per-haps, but an undeniable truth. "It is ludicrous and puerile to suppose that 'patriotism' is instinctive. It is utterly artificial. A product of education only." So the argument is elaborated, and attention drawn to the insidious effect of toy soldiers, military tattoos, war memorials and history books in generating the microbes of Mars. In the final chapter the author explains his attitude toward the King and Country debate at Oxford.

The book being the work of a journalist, there are those who will say that it savours more of sensationalism than of sincerity; but because a book is merely journalistic in its format it is not to be condemned on the ground of insincerity. There is little doubt that Beverley Nichols is serious, deadly serious, and the younger generation is fortunate in having one who can state their case so brilliantly.

— O.A.E.H.