Random Notes

More November Titles: George F. Kennan’s The Decline of Bismarck’s European Order: Franco-Russian Relations, 1875-1890 (Princeton, $25) blames the tensions leading to World War I upon the Franco-Russian alliance against Germany, which he says was inspired more by a hatred of the common enemy than by national compatibility. Mr. Kennan should be encouraged to spend his golden years discussing nineteenth century diplomacy more, twentieth century diplomacy less. . . . Catholics and American Politics (Harvard, $15), by Mary T. Hannah, assesses the institutional clout the Church wields in American politics today. … In Why Males Exist: An inquiry into the Evolution of Sex (Morrow, $9.95), Fred Hap-good argues that “males exist only to cater to female preferences.” That is news to nobody but women’s libbers and a few enlightened men. . . . The Networks: How They Stole the Show (Scribner’s, $8.95), by A. Frank Reel, describes the manner in which the three major networks have managed not only to control their own stations but to dictate to the independents too. The author, a lawyer, was at one time president of Metromedia Producers Corporation. . . . E. J. Kahn Jr., a staff writer for The New Yorker, is publishing a collection of his pieces, Far-flung and Footloose (Putnam’s, $12.95), written over the past 41 years. Almost all The New Yorker’s departments are represented.

The Art World: J. M. W. Turner: His Art and Life (Rizzoli, $85) is a fascinating study by Andrew Wilton in which the author traces Turner’s development as a Modernist painter who worked with no intent to revolutionize painting. Splendid illustrations—for which, of course, you pay. . . . Fred Licht’s Goya: The Origins of the Modern Temper in Art (Universe Books, $16.50) also puts his artist in the forefront of Modernism, by which he seems to mean, chiefly, nihilism. —CW

CW

About the Author

Chilton Williamson Jr.

More November Titles: George F. Kennan’s The Decline of Bismarck’s European Order: Franco-Russian Relations, 1875-1890 (Princeton, $25) blames the tensions leading to World War I upon the Franco-Russian alliance against Germany, which he says was inspired more by a hatred of the common enemy than by national compatibility. Mr. Kennan should be encouraged to spend his golden years discussing nineteenth century diplomacy more, twentieth century diplomacy less. . . . Catholics and American Politics (Harvard, $15), by Mary T. Hannah, assesses the institutional clout the Church wields in American politics today. … In Why Males Exist: An inquiry into the Evolution of Sex (Morrow, $9.95), Fred Hap-good argues that “males exist only to cater to female preferences.” That is news to nobody but women’s libbers and a few enlightened men. . . . The Networks: How They Stole the Show (Scribner’s, $8.95), by A. Frank Reel, describes the manner in which the three major networks have managed not only to control their own stations but to dictate to the independents too. The author, a lawyer, was at one time president of Metromedia Producers Corporation. . . . E. J. Kahn Jr., a staff writer for The New Yorker, is publishing a collection of his pieces, Far-flung and Footloose (Putnam’s, $12.95), written over the past 41 years. Almost all The New Yorker’s departments are represented.

The Art World: J. M. W. Turner: His Art and Life (Rizzoli, $85) is a fascinating study by Andrew Wilton in which the author traces Turner’s development as a Modernist painter who worked with no intent to revolutionize painting. Splendid illustrations—for which, of course, you pay. . . . Fred Licht’s Goya: The Origins of the Modern Temper in Art (Universe Books, $16.50) also puts his artist in the forefront of Modernism, by which he seems to mean, chiefly, nihilism. —CW