a Soviet first strike. As a primer onnnuclear defense, Jastrow’s book deservesnto be widely read—perhaps even bynmembers of the Reagan Administration,nwho have not yet made annadequate case for SDI research andndeployment.nFor two generations obliged to livenwith the Damoclean sword of nuclearnweapons, it seems incredible that anprotective shield can now be erected innthe sky. Even if the proposed defensensystem is imperfect, it is better thannnone at all, since a system that presentsnthe Soviets with an unclear scenarionabout its counterforce strikes enhancesnthe credibility of our deterrent. FornJastrow, the more fundamental considerationnis that the new defense wouldnactually protect lives rather than merelynthreaten massive retaliation.nSome groups who oppose SDI willnnot be easy to persuade. Some militarynofficers whose careers are tied to missilendeployment and procurement may benreluctant to support the new effort. Andnof course, many on the left will lamentnthat a thousand schools could be builtnfor the cost of a single satellite in andefensive shield. But the protectionnfrom nuclear fury oifered by the newninitiative is exactly what average peoplenwant. Their votes and Jastrow’s booknmay help us take a giant step towards ansensible national policy on nuclearnweapons. ccnHerbert London is dean of thenGallatin Division of New YorknUniversity.nIN FOCUSn301 CHRONICLES OF CULTUREnA Saint Seducednby E. Christian KopffnJames Bentley: Martin Niemoller;nThe Free Press; New York.nRarely has any important figure in thenhistory of Christianity been as ignorantnof theology as Martin Niemoller. Evennhis friend and political ally Karl Earthncommented on the fact. It was Niemoller’snsingle-minded courage and patriotismnthat made him important. Innthe Great War he was a U-boat commander.nDisgusted with what he viewednas Germany’s betrayal, he became anProtestant minister. Although he votednfor Hitler, he soon found that the NationalnSocialist Party wanted to makenthe Church into a mere extension ofnitself, and this he denounced. He spentnthe war years in a concentration camp.nThe decades after World War II hendevoted to trying to get Germany acceptednagain by other nations as annequal, working especially through thenWorld Council of Churches. In all thisnhe acted as a loyal German. He hadneven volunteered for active servicenwhen war broke out in 1939. He detestednAdenauer as a liberal out of touchnwith Germany’s real traditions and as anCatholic who would not work for anGerman reunification that mightnthreaten Christian Democratic (Catholic)nrule. (Americans do not appreciatenhow many Germans vote Socialist becausenit is perceived as the Protestantnparty.)nBut before his death in March 1984,nNiemoller had spent the last two decadesnof his life as a loyal worker in thenMarxist-Leninist opinion factory, dutifullynpunching his time card in atnHanoi, or Moscow, or wherever else henwas told to go. James Bentley’s clearnand sympathetic biography does somethingnto unravel the tangled skeins ofnthis mysterious change. Until the end ofnWorld War II, the story is told withnexemplary clarity, profiting from Niemoller’snown autobiography. FromnU-Boat to Pulpit, and many years ofninterviews with Niemoller. The chronologicalnclarity breaks down after thenwar, though. During the account ofnNiemoller’s last two decades, Bentleynregularly interpolates stories, remarks,nand letters from the 15 years directlynfollowing the war. Bentley does presentnthe facts, however, although on occasionnhe confuses the issues, e.g., bynputting the Lenin Peace Prize on thensame level and in the same sentence asnan honorary doctorate from NYU.nIn 1962 Niemoller’s beloved wifendied. In 1964 he went on a WorldnCouncil of Churches’ trip to Russia,nwhere he was seduced by his “interpreter.”nFrom that time forth, Niemollernnever wavered in his loyalty to internationalnCommunism. Bentley does notnhave a single public statement aftern1964 in which Niemoller refers tonChrist. This seems to be no accident.nThis is a clear and moving story.nThat the biographer should have triednto cover up the sorry story of his subject’snlast years is understandable, but innso doing he has obscured the tragedy ofnNiemoller’s life, the tragedy of a greatnman whose faith failed. ccnE. Christian Kopff is professor ofnclassics at the University of Coloradonand an editor of Classical Journal.nnnA Hero for OurnTimes?nby Carl C. CurtisnPhilip Ziegler: Mountbatten: A Biography;nKnopf; New York; $24.95.nLord Louis Mountbatten died in 1979,na victim of IRA assassins. Since then,nno fewer than three biographies on thenman have appeared (if one includes ThenLife and Times of Lord Mountbatten,nthe book on Mountbatten’s selforchestratedntelevision documentary,nshown in this country as Mountbatten:nA Man for the Century). The latest, bynPhilip Ziegler, is easily the most ambitious.nMaking use of Mountbatten’snpersonal archives at Broadlands, Zieglernhas produced a lengthy volume on hisnsubject; and, he tells us, he could havenwritten a book of “two, three, or evennfour volumes.” We can be glad he didnnot. The book suffers from Ziegler’sninability to sum up events succinctly,nnot to mention understand them. Aftern700 pages, the reader is apt to feel aboutnMountbatten as Dr. Johnson did aboutnParadise Lost: he would not wish itnlonger. Still, Ziegler is minutely informative,nif not brilliant, which isnabout as much as one can expect fromnan official biographer.nAs for Mountbatten himself (orn”Dickie,” as he preferred), he was colorful.nBorn His Serene Highness PrincenLouis of Battenberg, great-grandson ofnQueen Victoria, and nephew to thenTsar, Mountbatten could hardly avoidnfame. By temperament he did not wantnto. Following in the footsteps of hisnfather and brother, he pursued a careernin the Royal Navy, a glamorous callingnin itself As a cadet, and later as a juniornofficer, Dickie was envied for his royalnconnections and suspected of rising becausenof them. Those who did not fallnprey to his natural friendliness andncharm thought him arrogant. Yet henquickly made a reputation as a hardnworker, even a perfectionist. During thenpeaceful early and middle 30’s, hisncrews won trophy after trophy in variousnfield contests—water polo, cricket,ngunnery. He was determined that hisnship would be the best, and often it was.nIn his personal life, he was a celebrity.nHis marriage to Edwina Ashley inn1922 (hailed as the “marriage of thencentury”) was followed by a honeymoonnthat lasted six months and includednvisits with Charlie Chaplin andnthe Fairbankses. It seemed a perfectnmatch. Yet Edwina was not the type tongive Mountbatten the loyalty and quietn