Books: Recent & Readable, May 8, 1950

Escape to Adventure, by Fitzroy Maclean. A brigadier and Tory M.P. describes his prewar prowling in Russia, his commando escapades in the North African desert and his guerrilla life with Tito in one of the best personal-adventure books of World War II (TIME, May 1).

The Grand Alliance, by Winston Churchill. The third volume, covering 1941, of the ablest, most colorful contribution yet made to the history of the war (TIME, May 1).

The Town, by Conrad Richter. Hard work and lusty humors in the building of Ohio; good fictional Americana in a novel that brings Richter’s trilogy to an end with the Civil War (TIME, May 1).

The Lady’s Not for Burning, by Christopher Fry. A play in verse that tells in fresh, shining language of a witch hunt in 15th Century England and of two triumphant lovers. An uncommon combination of bright theater and fine reading (TIME, April 24).

Of Men and Mountains, by William O. Douglas. Trout fishing and mountain climbing in the tall Northwest, served up with a garnish of mountain-made philosophy by a U.S. Supreme Court Justice (TIME, April 17).

Friar Felix at Large, by H. F. M. Prescott. The rough and rocky road to Jerusalem as traveled by 15th Century Frater Felix Fabri and described with Chaucerian zest in his own account; retold in a good night’s reading by Novelist Prescott (TIME, April 10).

The Cocktail Party, by T. S. Eliot. A brilliant verse play of worldlings and martyrs, drawing rooms and consulting rooms, Freud and faith (TIME, Jan. 30).