GAMAL ABDUL NASSER. Egypt's Libera tion : The Philosophy of the Revolution. Pp. 119. Washington, D. C.: Public Af fairs Press, 1955. $2.00

• Date: 01 July 1955
• Author: Emil Lengyel
• Published date: 01 July 1955
• DOI: 10.1177/000271625530000175
• Subject Matter: Articles

176

democratic

Asia

brought

to

independence

through

Japan’s

benevolent

example

and

guidance.

Thus

it

was

that

Sun

Yat-sen,

the

very

symbol

of

Chinese

nationalism,

was

able

to

draw

inspiration

and

help

from

Japan,

Chinese

nationalism’s

greatest

enemy.

The

problem

always

was,

as

Sun

Yat-sen

and

others

learned

through

bitter

experi-

ence,

whether

Japan

would

rule

or

lead.

For

Japanese

ultranationalists,

the

dividing

line

was

never

entirely

clear.

Japan

wanted

a

nationalist

sentiment

strong

enough

to

drive

out

the

Western

imperialists,

but

not

strong

enough

to

defy

Japanese

rule.

It

was

this

confusion

that

ultimately

com-

promised

the

good

will

that

Japan

had

to

its

credit in

every

country

of

Asia.

Dr.

Jansen

has

given

us

an

extremely

valuable

understanding

of

the

process

whereby

the

attraction

of

Japan

for

Dr.

Sun

was

gradually replaced

by

an

inevi-

table,

if

reluctant,

hostility.

As

long

as

Japan

could

make

use

of

the

radical

na-

tionalists

to

weaken

Western

power,

to

hamper

the

unification

of

China,

and

to

further

her

own

economic

and

political

ad-

vancement,

it

was

willing

to

help.

But

when

Chinese

nationalist

aspirations

seemed

to

conflict

with

Japan’s

aims,

then

they

were

junked.

In

the

same

way,

Japanese

political

sentiment

itself

was

split.

For

the

&dquo;liberals,&dquo;

Pan-Asianism

was

more

than

a

mere

expedient:

it

represented

a

genuine,

if

somewhat

confused,

ideal.

But

for

the

ultranationalists,

Pan-Asianism

meant

only

an

Asia

united

under

the

Japanese

Empire.

Dr.

Sun

learned

eventually

to

deal

with

the

reality

of

Japanese

expansionism,

but

he

always

reserved

the

hope

that

Japan

would

return

to

her

role

of

&dquo;leader,&dquo;

not

&dquo;ruler&dquo;

of

Asia.

Dr.

Jansen’s

book

lies

in

that

extremely

difhcult

area

of

study-requiring

as

it

does

command

of

both

Japanese

and

Chinese

language

sources-between

Japanology

and

Sinology.

It

promises

well

for

what

we

may

expect

from

this

field

in

the

future.

HERBERT

PASSIN

Ohio

State

University

GAMAL

ABDUL

NASSER.

Egypt’s

Libera-

tion :

The

Philosophy

of

the

Revolution.

Pp.

119.

Washington,

D.

C.:

Public

Af-

fairs

Press,

1955.

$2.00.

In

this

slender

volume

Premier

Gamal

Abdul

Nasser

traces

his

own

political

evolu-

tion

and

outlines

the

future

tasks

of

Egypt

in

the

Arab

world

and

the

global

com-

munity.

A

young

student

in

1935,

he

took

part

in

demonstrations

clamoring

for

a

constitution

and

the

end

of

British

rule

in

the

Land

of

the

Nile.

He

called

upon

leading

Egyptian

statesmen

to

prevail

upon

them

to

help

unite

Egypt.

The

National

Front

was

formed

as

a

result.

During

World

War

II,

seven

years

later,

he

grew

bitter

against

the

British

imposing

their

way

upon

the

young

king

and

his

determination

waxed

to

see

his

country

gain

full

independence.

The

time

appeared

to

be

propitious

during

the

Palestine

cam-

paign

in

1948,

when

Egypt

seized

arms

to

vanquish

the

Israelis.

Instead

of that

Egypt

was

defeated.

Nasser,

a

young

army

officer,

helped

to

create

the

Free

Officers’

organization

which

ousted

King

Farouk

on

the

historic

July

23,

1952.

This

appeared

to

be

the

right

time

to

realize

the

national

ambitions.

The

vanguard

had

done

its

work

and

now

it

was

the

masses’

turn

to

close

ranks

and

turn

against

the

enemies

of

the

country.

Instead

of

that

hordes

of

politicians

de-

scended

upon

the

leaders

of

the

movement,

each

of

them

complaining

against

the

other

and

offering

mass

executions

as

the

remedy

of

the

country’s

ills.

Nasser

and

his

as-

sociates

were

deluged

with

petitions

for

personal

favors.

Nobody

said

&dquo;we,&dquo;

every-

body

said

&dquo;I.&dquo;

This

was

an

orgy

of

ego-

tism.

Yet,

Egypt

needs

great

force

and

will

power,

as

Premier

Nasser

sees

it,

to

play a

historic

part.

He

sees

his

country

destined

for

a

majestic

role.

First,

it

has

to

seize

leadership

in

the

Arab

world,

linked

to-

gether

with

bonds

of

a

historic

heritage,

and

which

is

to

be

cemented

into

a

com-

mon

destiny.

Then

Egypt

must

remember

that

she

is

an

African

country

and

cannot

remain

indifferent

to

the

fate

of

the

&dquo;Dark

Continent&dquo;

again

besieged

by

self-seeking

&dquo;white

people.&dquo;

Egypt

must

assume

lead-

ership

in

Africa.

Finally,

Egypt

must

also

play a

large