... THE story of the beginnings of the wartime Ministry of Information is a fairly chequered one, full of storms, trials and tribulations, and nearly always at the centre of these tempests was to be found a censor, or censors. it tOOK nearly three years of total war tn arhipvp mme sort of balanced I policy at the Ministry, and it says a great deal for the personality of Rear-Admiral G. P. Thomson, ...

... (M Deep Are The loots (Wyndham's) THEY are the roots of racial hatred and fear that still bedevil the relations of white people and coloured folk in the Deep South. The problem thus perpetuated is purely American; but to assume therefore that you won't be interested in its treatment will be to deny yourself an evening of exciting theatre. It is exciting theatre because the authors (Arnaud ...

... Elizabeth Bewens THE sad part about many monuments is their stoniness, which may seem to place the person they would commemorate back in the coldness of other time. But John Buchan, by His Wife and Friends (Hodder and Stoughton; 12s. 6d.), is what seems ideal-- a living monu ment to a man who lived life to the full. In part a composite memoir, in part a series of portraits by different hands, ...

... THE name of Jeanne Demessieux is well known in France, but not particularly so in this country. Admittedly she broad cast in the Third Programme some few weeks ago but I am sure when you have heard her playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor you will know that here is an organist who will make her mark throughout the world. Walt Disney introduced this music to a very wide public in ...

... OUR BOOKSHELF Rupert Croft-Cooke REVIEWED ON THIS PAGE. CREATURES OF CIRCUMSTANCE. By W. Somerset Maugham. (Heinemann 10s. 6 d.) MEN OF TASTE. By Martin S. Briggs. (Bats ford 15s.) RETURN TO NIGHT. By Mary Renault. (Longmans, Green 10s. 6 d.) THE DEADLY PERCHERON. By John Franklin Bardin. Gollancz 8s. 6 d.) CREATURES OF CIRCUMSTANCE. From Mr. Somerset Maugham's new book of short stories ...