Book Reviews : Oswald Garrison Villard: Pacifist at War. By MICHAEL WRESZIN. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1965. Pp. ii, 342. $6.95.)

Date01 March 1966
DOI10.1177/106591296601900166
Published date01 March 1966
Subject MatterArticles
211
A
final
section,
&dquo;Decline
and
Fall of
Treason,&dquo;
discusses
some
professional
cases
of
treason
done
primarily
for
pay
as
well
as
considers
the
sordid
details
of
the
1964
political
scandals
in
England.
This
section
is
not
pleasant
reading,
though
it
makes
for
important
reading.
Intermingled
with
the
careful
treatment
of
cases
are
numerous
penetrating
interpretations
of
motive
and
character
in
the
cold
war.
Many
worthwhile
obser-
vations
about
politics
and
law
also
occur.
Rebecca
West
writes
a
tough-minded
real-
istic
account
of
the
relevant
cases.
Yet
she
is
able
to
sympathize
with,
though
not
to
condone,
the
muddled
actions
of
some
confused
persons
important
in
her
narrative.
Of
course,
Rebecca
West
knows
how
to
write
well!
San
Jose
State
College
WHITAKER
T.
DEININGER
Oswald
Garrison
Villard:
Pacifist
at
War.
By
MICHAEL
WRESZIN.
(Bloomington:
Indiana
University
Press,
1965.
Pp. ii, 342.
$6.95.)
There
was
a
time
when
Oswald
Garrison
Villard
and
The
Nation
magazine
were
names
to
conjure
with
in
American
politics.
Michael
Wreszin,
Professor
of
History
at
Queens
College,
New
York,
writes
of
the
time
when
these
two
were
insep-
arable.
He
presents
Villard
as
torn
between
two
images
of
himself:
that
of
the
un-
swerving
moralistic
crusader
represented
by
his
maternal
grandfather
William
Lloyd
Garrison,
and
that
of
the
successful
and
progressive
man
of
practical
affairs,
per-
sonified
by
his
father,
Henry
Villard.
Something
of
this
conflict
is
caught
in
the
sub-
title,
&dquo;Pacifist
at
War.&dquo;
Villard’s
association
with
The
Nation,
which
began
before
the
turn
of
the
cen-
tury
and
lasted
on
almost
to
his
death
in
1949,
served
at
times
to
conceal
the
conflict
between
the
two
aspects
of
his
personality.
From
1918
to
1933
as
editor
and
part
owner
he
brought
The
Nation
to
a
position
of
extraordinary
influence
in
national
and
world
affairs,
earning
the
support
and
participation
of
many
of
the
literary
and
jour-
nalistic
greats
of
the
time.
The
pattern
of
Villard’s
conflict
seems
to
have
been
set
by
his
relations
with
Woodrow
Wilson.
The
harsh
and
crusading
spirit
always
tri-
umphed
ultimately,
with
tragic
consequences
to
Villard
himself.
Committed
passion-
ately
to
reason,
pacifism,
and
the
perfectability
of
mankind,
he
was
unable
to
face
up
to
the
issues
raised
by
the
emergence
of
Hitler.
Slowly
he
was
driven
to
cooperate
with
the
isolationists
whom
he
despised
and
to
become
a
&dquo;fellow
traveler&dquo;
of
the
American
firsters
and
the
military
nationalists
whom
he
feared
and
hated,
and
to
resign
from
The
Nation,
which
he
loved.
Wreszin
presents
his
account
in
a
generally
sympathetic
and
workman-like
man-
ner.
He
credits
Villard
with
a
unique
contribution
to
many
reforms
and
worthy
projects
and
to
an
unchallenged
place
in
American
political
journalism.
The
story
is
wrapped
up
in
275
pages
of
text
with
the
footnotes
and
paraphernalia
of
scholar-
ship
safely
segregated
at
the
end
of
the
book.
The
language
and
style
are
clear
and
well
within
the
grasp
of
the
average
&dquo;informed&dquo;
reader.
The
book
is
beautifully
printed
by
the
University
of
Indiana
Press.
Only
a
few
defects
mar
an
otherwise
creditable
piece
of
work.
Wreszin
gets
off
to
a
slow
start.
Too
many
incidents
are

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