On the occasion of the First Arab Cultural Congress, the Lebanese government

has issued a book entitled "Lebanon in the Era of Independence" — a collection of articles and photographs, elegantly printed on glossy paper, dealing with the steps Lebanon has taken during the four years of independence in the various walks of life.

The reading of this book is necessary for every Lebanese citizen who cares to acquaint himself with the progress Lebanon has attained; and it also stirs in him reflection on what has not yet been attained.

The zealous patriot Dr. Georges Hanna wrote this book upon his return from Moscow, where he was invited last winter, with a group of Lebanese men of thought, to acquaint himself at close quarters with the achievements of the Soviet system in Russian life and society. The book runs to some 145 pages of medium format, printed by the Kashshaf Press in Beirut on excellent paper.

The reader of the book is left in no doubt as to the author's impartiality and the sincerity of what he describes and of the views he sets forth. From this the book derives its value, alongside the other literary and intellectual merits that adorn it.

Perhaps we cannot, in so hasty a notice, describe the subject of the book better than the author himself described it in his introduction, where he says: "There may appear in this book testimonies and observations that will please some readers, and others that will not please them, here and there. In both criticism and commendation I seek only to set forth the truth as I witnessed it, in the belief that truth alone is the straight road to the enlightenment of minds and to the general good. I therefore beg the pardon of those whom the criticism may touch.... Nor will you find in this book, reader, a lengthy description of the journey, for its purpose is not to acquaint you with my travels and with the museums, theaters, and cities I visited. If these things opened to me a field of good cheer and fresh air, and of acquaintance with what delights the soul, they are nevertheless not what it concerns you to know. And so I shall mention of such matters only what bears on the essential subject for which I

wrote this book — namely, to make known this new world, its civilization, its people, and its development, that you may judge for it or against it yourself, from the standpoint of principle and of humanity, and its influence upon the new development of the world."

The Arab reader will doubtless thank Dr. Georges Hanna for casting some light upon this new world.

About a year ago the man of letters Mr. Michel Asmar founded 'the Lebanese Cénacle,' which has taken upon itself the organization of a series of intellectual, literary, and artistic lectures. The first series began last October and ended in June, and it had a wide echo in Lebanese cultural circles.

Mr. Asmar has seen fit to publish these lectures in successive volumes, of which five have appeared so far. Their benefit has thus spread abroad, and the Arab reader has found in them wholesome nourishment for his culture. It is his duty, then, to acknowledge his debt of gratitude to Mr. Asmar, and to support him in this project of his with all he can.

Social Research

Editor-in-Chief

Said Himadeh

Professor of Economics at the American University of Beirut

'Social Research'

A free platform for free thought, whose pages present the finest that social thinking in the Arab world produces. Annual subscription in Syria and Lebanon: 5 Lebanese liras; abroad: 60 Egyptian piasters.