NORMAN THOMAS'S little book on war has the virtues and defects of almost all the peace literature which floods the country. The author presents tables and facts and statistics in an alarming array, includes poems, quotations from noted men and proves convincingly that as for war there is no profit in it, no glory from it, and no need for it. It is a handy reference book for earnest pacifists who seek arguments to confute their opponents.

Aside from its unquestionable rightness and its equally unquestionable sincerity, Norman Thomas' effort has little to recommend it. It hammers away at a problem that faces America and the rest of the world, a problem that seems now adamant, now soluble. The trouble is that to those who believe in war it will make no difference and to those who hate war it will make no difference either. Being relatively inexpensive, it should get around to almost everyone for examination at least, but the reviewer believes, and he is honestly sorry for it, that the book will-make few converts.