THE BOOKSHELF

"My New Order," a thick, 1000-page tome which might more aptly have been entitled "A Thousand and One Lies," contains excerpts from every important speech by Adolph Hitler from 1922 until the invasion of Russia. Not so much a historical text as a study in abnormal psychology, the book offers almost unfathomable opportunities for following the twisted paths, the worn grooves, and the perverted by-paths of perhaps the cleverest and surely the most repelling mentality produced by a century potent with many evils.

As testified by almost every paragraph and page of "My New Order," Hitler is first, last, and always a nationalist. Yet his patriotism is not an ennobling devotion, but a hideous, unilateral, exclusive thing which makes of faith a disease. Every moral rule, every conception of justice, every instinct of tolerance has been whittled and twisted by his virulent mind to fit not humans everywhere, but the Germans alone. And when principle stops at national boundaries, only force reaches out beyond. Hitler's fanatic nationalism explains the unending lies and invectives with which his speeches groan.

The editors have preceded each speech with a notation of events leading up to it, and the editorial comments of leading newspapers are appended to each address. In the light of this commentary, readers will probably find Section IV' on "Bloodless Victories" the most interesting. Rarely before in history has the success or failure of a powerful movement depended so completely on the oratorical genius, the political sense of a single man. At this time the German Army is determining the fate of the Reich, but when Hitler occupied the Rhineland he alone was guiding Germany over a tight-rope of political uncertainty when any slip would mean a fall disastrous to his regime. His overwhelming victory was a personal rather than a national triumph, and the psychological tactics he used are recorded in "My New Order" for the post facto wonder of those interested in his peculiar strength.

Of "My New Order" it might be said, "Seek and ye shall find." If you're interested in the problem of how an abnormal psychology can transform itself into a world movement, you will find it answered. If you would understand the principles of National Socialism as they are held by many millions of German fanatics, they are expounded and reiterated continuously. If you are still curious to know what the New Order of Europe will be like if Hitler's nightmare comes true, you can find its philosophy and its course plotted in detail. And if you're inclined to murmur "propaganda" at some of the things you hear and read, let Hitler himself explain the millenium to come.