Book Reviews : The German Social Democratic Party 1914-1921. By A. JOSEPH BERLAU. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1949. Pp. 374. $4.75.)
| DOI | 10.1177/106591295000300419 |
| Published date | 01 December 1950 |
| Author | Alfred Diamant |
| Date | 01 December 1950 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
638
field
are
so
regularly
noted
as
to
lead
one
to
the conclusion
that
an
underlying
spirit
of
liberalism
must
be
a
part
of
the
Spanish
national
make-up.
One
wonders
why
this
has
not
borne
earlier
and
more
abun-
dant
fruit.
There
is
also
an
attempt
to
offset
the
somberness
of
the
Spanish
Inquisition
by
extensive
reference
to
religious
intolerance
in
many
parts
of
Europe.
Unfortunately
the
book
has
many
shortcomings,
some,
but
not
all,
due
to
translation.
The
English
is
faulty
and
at
times
not
idiomatic.
The
punctuation
is
unorthodox,
and
numerous
proper
nouns
are
mis-
spelled.
There
are
as
many
as
seven
bracketed
parenthetical
remarks
within
a
single
sentence,
and
as
many
as
ten
Spanish
words
to
a
page
of
what
purports
to
be
English
text.
Numerous
erroneous
dates
are
given;
and
one
wonders
whether
this
is
due
to
carelessness
on
the
part
of
author,
translator,
or
editor.
The
maps
are
clear
but
inadequate,
omitting
most
places
mentioned
in
the
text.
The
verbal
location
of
places
is
at
times
inaccurate,
as
for
example
when
the
Spanish
March
of
Carolingian
times
is
described
as
in
northwestern
Spain,
or
the
Spanish
portion
of
the
Marquisate
of
Gotha
is
referred
to
as
Cis-Alpine.
An
extensive
bibliography
in
which
a
majority
of
the
works
listed
are
purposely
in
English
for
the
benefit
of
the
American
reader,
two
tables
of
dates,
and
a
chart
showing
the
parallel
developments
in
Spain
and
other
countries,
comprise
a
useful
fifty-page
appendix.
The
index
is
comprehensive,
but
erratic.
A
genealogical
chart
would
add
value
to
the
book
and
would
certainly
be
helpful
to
the
reader
trying
to
get
clearly
in
mind
the
many
monarchs
mentioned
in
the
text.
The
over-all
impression
of
the
reviewer
is
that
a
great
historian
has
been
brought
to
the
attention
of
the
American
reader
in
a
far
less
favorable
manner
than
he
deserves.
W.
HAROLD
DALGLIESH.
University
of
Utah.
The
German
Social
Democratic
Party
1914-1921.
By
A.
JOSEPH
BERLAU.
(New
York:
Columbia
University
Press.
1949.
Pp.
374.
$4.75.)
Dr.
Berlau
tries
to
show
that
the
German
Social
Democratic
party
between
1914
and
1921
evolved
an
economic
program,
a
foreign
policy,
and
a
set
of
political
ideals
grossly
at
variance
with
the
Marxist
pro-
gram
adopted
by
the
party
at
Erfurt
in
1891.
With
great
skill
he
has
assembled
the
source
material
and
has
marshalled
the
data
necessary
to
show
what
the
SPD
in
fact
did
or
proposed
to
do
and
what
reasons
it
advanced
for
its
course
of
action.
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