Books: Men in Peace

SEVEN DAYS—Andreas Latzko—Viking ($2.50)* Andreas Latzko's Men in War was one of the first realistic War books to make a considerable sensation. Since then post-War upheaval has sent Latzko, like many a German and Austrian author, to sociological school. In Seven Days he measures the German social disorder with a top-to-toe glance.

When Karl Abt, poor workman, saw his old enemy Baron Mangien sneaking into somebody else's Berlin house on Christmas Eve, he smelled a rat, hoped he could trap it. Sure enough he caught the Baron with another man's wife, blackmailed him into changing clothes and pocketbooks for 48 hours. Revenge for social injustice was all Abt wanted, but somehow the Baron's fur coat and well-lined purse made life more complicated than ever. All his puzzling problems were solved when the lady's husband shot him. The Baron thanked his stars for his lucky escape and tried to be a better husband, a better capitalist. Within a week, however, he found himself as puzzled, outraged, helpless as poor Karl Abt.