Book Reviews and Notices : Survival or Suicide. EDITED By HARRY H. MOORE. (New York: Harper and Brothers. 1948. Pp. xii, 209. $2.00.)

• Published date: 01 September 1948
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100345
• Author: Charles S. Lacugna
• Date: 01 September 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

353

far

the

study

of

what

we

may

call

’the

machinery

of

government’

in

the

ani-

mal

body

can

help

us

in

solving

the

same

problem

on

the

social

plane&dquo;

(p.

54).

As

a

statement

of

intellectual

tasks

which

will

confront

the

world

for

some

generations

to

come,

Dr.

Huxley’s

essay

is

probably

unexceptionable.

But

such

loftiness

does

not

easily

descend

to

the

level

at

which

manageable

plans

can

be

defined,

budgeted,

and

demonstrably

accomplished,

as

the

1947

UNESCO

General

Conference

seems

to

have

discovered.

However

laudable

one

might

find

these

pretentious

objectives,

he

might

still

ask

how

UNESCO

practically

can

hope

to

do

so

much

about

so

many

things.

DELL

G.

HITCHNER.

University

of

Washington.

Survival

or

Suicide.

EDITED

By

HARRY

H.

MOORE.

(New

York:

Harper

and

Brothers.

1948.

Pp. xii, 209.

$2.00.)

Survival

or

Suicide,

edited

by

Harry

H.

Moore,

is

a

collection

of

poli-

tical

writings.

The

editor

has

canvassed

the

political

field

for

articles

that

would

suit

his

purpose

which

as

he

himself

states

in

the

preface

is

&dquo;to

ex-

plain

briefly

the

nature

of

the

crisis

brought

about

by

the

discovery

of

atomic

energy,

and

to

describe

the

momentous

alternatives

mankind

now

faces.&dquo;

For

Mr.

Moore,

the

alternatives

are

a

united

peaceful

world

backed

by

an

international

organization

or

a

third

world

war

and

the

probable

decay

of

western

civilization.

Mr.

Moore

recognizes

that

he

is

not

an

authority

in

the

many

fields

treated

in

the

book.

Hence,

he

has

wisely

selected

competent

authors,

some

of

whom

are

William

L.

Laurence,

John

Fischer,

and

David

Lilienthal.

Mr.

Moore

confesses

that

there

is

really

nothing

new

in

the

book

and

that

it

is

not

for

&dquo;scientists&dquo;

or

&dquo;intellectuals.&dquo;

It

is

for

the

&dquo;average

layman.&dquo;

The

editor’s

specific

contribution,

so

states

Mr.

Moore,

was

&dquo;to

write

particular

chapters

only

because

certain

requisite

material

was

not

avail-

able

in

organized

form.&dquo;

The

book

is

divided

into

three

parts.

The

first

part

describes

the

var-

ious

problems

and

the

difficulties

obstructing

the

peace.

Outstanding

among

them,

of

course,

are

Russia

and

the

atomic

bomb. There

are

subordinate

problems,

though,

e.g.,

national

defense

and

economic

reconstruction.

The

second

part

discusses

and

urges

the

need

for

an

understanding

of

these

prob-

lems

Part

three

treates

of

the

various

ways

of

building

a

united

and

peace-

ful

world.

Here,

Mr.

Moore

discusses

details

about

the

United

Nations,

proposals

for

world

government,

movements

for

peace

and

friendliness,

and

specific

suggestions

as

to

what

can

be

done

for

a

united

world.

The

two

suggestions

made

are:

( 1 )

to

be

&dquo;friendly

and

generous&dquo;

and

(2)

adopt

&dquo;that

plan

for

a

united

world

believed

to

be

most

promising.&dquo;

After

sug-

gesting

the

above

remedies,

the

author

is

skeptical

of

their

feasibility

be-

cause

he

fears

an

&dquo;accident&dquo;

in

Europe.