“This is a book of flashbacks to yesterday, in some ways rather in the manner of the late Frederick Lewis Allen. It is more than merely episodic; it is also an alert commentary upon the life of a people, full of their bad taste, their frustrations and fears--and their gallantry as well. The task is done simply and objectively for the most part, but with sympathy and understanding in a style never less than adequate and sometimes approaching the powerful.”– New York Times