September 1953
In This Issue
Explore the September 1953 print edition below. Or to discover more writing from the pages of The Atlantic, browse the full archive.
Articles
Our Mistakes in Korea
“The deliberate political design by which two Administrations treated the Korean War as if it were an insoluble military problem … confused the American public and, confusing it, dulled its memory.”
Indo-China
South Africa
India to America
A New Look at Air Policy
The United States is spending huge sums each year for an inadequate military force, while with even less money we could achieve an air-atomic power which might of itself prevent World War III. Yet we are cutting back our air-atomic deterrent, THOMAS K. FINLETTER warns, in a mistaken attempt to perpetuate “balance” among the armed services. Mr. Finletter, who was Chairman of the Air Policy Commission throughout one of the most exhaustive studies ever made in time of peace, became Secretary for the Air Force in 1950.
The Decline of Bathing
Reverence for the sea is an instinct implanted in the human race from the earliest times. The Greeks poured libations into the ocean; the Romans, a proud people, frequently addressed it in terms verging on the fulsome. H. F. ELLIS, whom Atlantic readers will remember for “The Imperfect Foreigners” in the April issue, examines, by way of contrast, the seafaring tendencies of the present day.
Kinds of Wind
Russian Assignment
A graduate of Annapolis, VICE ADMIRAL LESLIE C. STEVENS, USN (Ret.), served in the Navy for thirty-six years as a specialist in naval aviation and foreign intelligence. In 1917, while still in the Academy, he began his study of Russian history. He learned to read and write the language and when, in 1947, he was sent to Moscow as our naval attaché, he was able as few of our representatives are to meet the Russians on their own terms. During his years of duty in the country, he talked to the people in all walks of life, often under observation, but finding numerous opportunities for unsupervised conversations. From his continuous encounters with the Russian people, he has written a book, Russian Assignment, which will be published under our imprint in October and from which the Atlantic is drawing several extended installments.
The Atlantic Report on the World Today: Washington
September Harvest
JOSEPHINE JOHNSON is a native of Missouri whose first short story appeared in the Atlantic and who won the Pulitzer Prize with her beautifully descriptive novel, Now in November. Three years ago, she and her husband bought three acres on the outskirts of Cincinnati and a majestic house a hundred and thirty years old. There were bats in the attic — uncounted thousands who did not wish to be dislodged; and that struggle Miss Johnson described in her memorable article, “Tenants of the House” (August, 1952). Now, in a series of fresh essays, she depicts the explorations which she and her children have carried out in the summer and early autumn.
Nitrogen Will Leed Us
Reared on a farm in Utah and later in Colombia, South America, GRANT CANNON now lives in a century-old house on the outskirts of Cincinnati with his wife, Josephine Johnson, and their three children. During the war Mr. Cannon served as a combat intelligence officer with the Fifth Air Force, and since that time he has been managing editor of the Farm Quarterly — a job, he writes us, “which pleases me enormously because of the aesthetic satisfactions which come from publishing such a beautiful as well as useful magazine.”
Sayonara
As a writer for Young & Rubicam since 1940, with some timeout for his army service, TED PITTENGER has published articles and sketches in various advertising trade magazines. This is his first serious attempt at fiction. A native of Newport, Rhode Island, who was educated at Kenyon College, Mr. Pittenger is now living in California and is at work on a novel entitled A River Moonlight.
The Virgin Egg
“The development of a living active organism from a seemingly inert egg, while you watch and wait, is a miracle that never palls,” writes N. J. BERRILL, Professor of Zoology at McGill University. Atlantic readers will remember “Detectives of Time” which Mr. Berrill wrote for the July issue, and his book Journey into Wonder, an account of the explorations of the great naturalists, of which we printed three chapters last year. The following article is taken from his new book, Sex and the Nature of Things, to be published soon by Dodd, Mead.
Del
A native of Iowa, KARL, HARSHBARGERhas spent his summers working out on farms, in labor camps, on construction, in the wheat fields of Oregon, or selling electrical appliances from door to door in the country by motor scooter. He began writing in his junior year at the University of Oregon, and it was at Eugene that the Editor of the Atlantic met him and became interested in his work.
The Castaway
Irish Writers I Have Known
Poet, playwright, and master of fantasy, LORD DUNSANY has been writing or nearly half a century, and in that time he has helped more than one young writer to find his way into the Atlantic, among them Mary Lavin, the Irish novelist. Of his many and delightful books, we remember with special thanks The Book of Wonder, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, and My Talks with Dean Stanley.
The Peripatetic Reviewer
Books: The Editors Like
Reader's Choice
Ciano's Hidden Diary: 1937-1938
Franz Von Papen Memoirs
Memories
Accent on Living
The Palio
CARL DE SUZEinterrupts his radio and television broadcasts each pear with travel overseas. Here is an item from his most recent trip to Italy.
Nimrod
The Thief of Asswan
Atlantic readers will remember ALLEN JACKSON as the University of Michigan football player whose extraordinary article “Too Much Football,” appeared in our October, 1951, issue.
Traffic Hazard
They Shall Have Music: Five Years of Lp
JOHN M. CONLY is a former New York and Washington newspaperman, now on the staff of High Fidelity Magazine. “They Shall Have Music” is a quarterly feature in the Atlantic.
