Book Reviews : Le parti liberal dans le systeme constitutionnel britannique. By ALBERT MABILEAU. (Paris: Colin. 1953. Pp.349.)

• Date: 01 March 1956
• Published date: 01 March 1956
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900131
• Subject Matter: Articles

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tionaries, their principal function would have terminated within a few
hours. They found, to their dismay, that it had only begun. &dquo;We needed
order,&dquo; the author says, &dquo;but we found nothing behind us but chaos. We
needed unity, but we found nothing behind us but dissension. We needed
work, but we found behind us only indolence and sloth.... We were not
yet ready. So we [sought] the views of leaders of opinion and the experi-
ence of those who were experienced. Unfortunately, we were not able to
obtain very much.&dquo;
In this expos6 of his inner thoughts, Nasser is everywhere self-critical,
yet he clearly feels himself to be a dedicated, if not a predestined, man.
His task he believes now to be the saving of his country both from the
&dquo;Imperialist&dquo; and from the effects of long centuries of exploitation and
misrule. His growing perception of the problems confronting the revolu-
tionary regime is shown in his observation that all true revolutions pass
through two phases: the political, which may be brief, and the social,
which may be long drawn out. Ordinarily, he notes, these phases occur
in succession: in contemporary Egypt they are occurring simultaneously.
He finds that the junta which achieved the first must be concerned also
with the early aspects of the second. Salvation for his regime -
and for
Egypt - he realizes must lie in holding the initiative and maintaining
power of leadership while guiding both phases of revolution.
Here in brief compass is a valuable text for students of political science,
for it touches on all of the fundamentals of revolution in an age marked
by nationalism. The little volume is introduced appropriately by Dorothy
Thompson. It concludes with a brief biographical sketch of the author pre-
pared by the Egyptian Embassy in Washington.
HALFORD L. HOSKINS.
Washington, D.C.
Le parti liberal dans le systeme constitutionnel britannique. By ALBERT
MABILEAU. (Paris: Colin. 1953. Pp.349.)
In his distinguished...