CHARLES ROBEQUAIN. Malaya, Indonesia, Borneo, and the Philippines. Translated by E. D. Laborde. Pp. xi, 456. London ;New York; Toronto: Longmans, Green, and Company, 1954. $6.00

• Author: Ernest Schein
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625530000173
• Published date: 01 July 1955
• Date: 01 July 1955
• Subject Matter: Articles

174
author’s talent for introducing pertinent
for consideration of the problems of The
details sometimes leads one to think that
United States and-whatever the country
he might have been an eyewitness. His
or countries in a given volume happens to
sympathy for the Liberal party and its
be. This makes for confusing and seem-
courageous struggle for reform against the
ingly contradictory titles for the volumes
host of Hohenzollern reactionary forces is
individually and for the series as a whole.
convincing. The question is left open, how-
Thus, in Professor Whitaker’s excellent vol-
ever, if the progressive program of the
ume on Argentina the &dquo;United States and&dquo;
Liberal party for electoral reform and po-
part is limited to two chapters and parts
litical equality was genuine, in view of their
of one other; it is hence, at least quanti-
surrender to Bismarck when he too es-
tatively, a minor portion of the whole
poused German unification. This surrender
volume.
was at its worst a sign that the Liberal
Granted that restrictive premise, little of
party was insincere in championing a pro-
a critical nature can be said about the vol-
gressive program. At best it was a demon-
ume under review.
Much that is superla-
stration of weakness.
The party thus
tive would have to be included in any de-
showed that only the tenuous cord of the
tailed review of the book. It is written in
unification issue held together its divergent
Professor Whitaker’s customarily brilliant
groups.
style and with his broad grasp of the intri-
Excessive and long quotations impair
cate interrelationship of factors and prob-
somewhat the refreshing flow of the nar-
lems as they affect the country with which
rative. Direct translations are often styl-
he is dealing.
istically awkward and idiomatically inac-
In the initial chapter he sets the stage
curate. Examples of these weaknesses are
in terms of land and people. Four follow-
the use of &dquo;under-officer&dquo; instead of...