allowed an anachronism, a modem warhas-no-meaningnbias, to slijp into his picture,nwhich ultimately makes the novelnproblematic.n5ome conservative publicists havendeveloped a concept which they call then”Hive.” It might also be called the antithesisnof the conspiracy theory. “Hive”nmeans the community of journalists,npohticians, intellectuals, and activistsnwho, working independently of eachnother, all contribute to the goals ofnliberalism and socialism. The Hivenoperates largely by fashionable concurrence:nfor example, if the ACLU brings ansuit in court challenging some traditionalnidea, the New York Times will report itnin a favorable light, even though it is notnworking direcdy with the ACLU. ThenHive knows its own and protects them.nThe Hive concept can be carried further.nThe preconceptions of the liberal/socialistnmind tend to mn along fairly conventionalnlines; there is a Hive language, ifnyou will. Robert McCrum’s A Loss ofnHeart is a Hive novel. Ostensibly a worknof the imagination, it reads with the dullnpredictability of a menu in HowardnJohnson’s.nMcCrum is of a type not unknown innthe decaying socialist state of Britain; henis, so to speak, an Angry Young Man.n”For God’s sake, look to the state ofnEngland,” his epigraph cries, quotednfrom a chronicle of the reign of KingnJohn in order to emphasize the impendingnanarchy. It is one of the crowningnironies of our time that a young man likenMcCmm can be educated by a dying,nsocialist intellectual world, react againstnthe claustrophobia and grittincss of thenwelfare state—and blame it all onncapitalism. One way to look at A Loss ofnHeart is by comparing it to Conrad’snHeart of Darkness; the vague similaritynof the titles is not coincidence. In Heartnof Darkness, an average European manngoes in search of a brilliant Renaissancenman who has entered the savage heart ofnAfrica and merged with it, only to find antruth too horrible to live with. A Loss ofnHeart traces the search of Philip Taylor,nS6inChronicles of Culturenan average professor, for his radicalnbrother Daniel. Though he dies near thenbegiiming of the novel, Daniel’s spiritnpresides over the book, and it is this spiritnwhich Philip seeks to understand. ThenTaylor brothers are heirs to the familynpharmaceutical company, founded innthe 18th century by their Quaker ancestorsnand grown into a multinational corporation.nBoth sons refuse to take overnthe failing company from their imperiousnfather. But Daniel discovers on antrip to Africa that his father’s firm is guiltynof dimiping dangerous dmgs on thennative market to make a profit. Wrackednby guilt feelings inherited from thenQuakers, and fiiistrated by his inabilitynto effect change, he turns to violence bynaiding terrorists, only to die of drink andnself-neglect at 35, a prematurely oldnman. The discovery of Daniel’s fate isnimportant for what it tells Philip aboutnhimself. In Philip Taylor, McCrum providesna protagonist (I can’t say hero) whonmakes J. Alfired Prufrock look like PrometheusnBound. Typical of the state ofnBritain, McCrum says, is this shy, insecurenprofessor who withdraws from thenworld and has no idea of the poundingnheart of agony and frustration which liesnbeneath the placid surface of Britishnsociety. The pain of the African mothersnwho bear deformed children as a result ofnthe family pharmaceuticals and the painnof the downtrodden working class hasnbecome one, and it exists in Britain asnmuch as it does in Africa. The novel endsnas Philip, together with Daniel’s girlnfriend, are taken hostage by the terroristnIn the Mailnthey meant to help. The bullet thatnenters Philip’s head cuts short what appearednto be a new and more meaningfulnlife. Again, one can hear McCrum sayingnbetween the lines: “See? It’s almost toonlate. If you don’t look to the state of Britainnnow this violence will overwhelmnyou, and you will have only yourselvesnto blame!”n1 he artist has a responsibility to cutnacross the grain of his society’s ephemeralnbut cherished opinions. It is thisnquality which makes Dostoevski’s GrandnInquisitor or Hannery O ‘Connor’s Misfitnspeak with the voice of prophecy; theynstrike at the root of the age’s vanities.nMcCrum presents a standard cast of characters:nthe puritanical and hypocriticalnfather who cannot handle the family’snbusiness and rages at his sons for not takingnit over; an aging journalist whontravels in the ruins of the British Empire,nwriting about it but not understandingnit, willing to make deals whichnaffect adversely thousands of Africannlives because “that’s the way the worldnworks”; a tough, masculine woman whonis committed to socialism and whose independencenstirs the heart of the weakkneednprofessor, Philip Taylor. RobertnMcCrum’s A Loss of Hearth a dangerousnand saddening phenomenon: itisajustificationnof violence based on a pervertednidea of the causes of the economic sicknessesnof our society. As a Hive novel, itntakes a socialist viewpoint for granted.nUnfortunately, too many people willngrant McCrum’s premise. DnThe Church and the Sword by G. Russell Evans and C. Gregg Singer; St. Thomas Press;nHouston, TX. An examination of what some American churches are doing with regard to defendingnthe nation and some suggestions for what they ought to be doing and why.nConflict Quarterly by the Centre for Conflia Studies; University of New Brunswick; Fredericton,nNew Brunswick, Canada. The Spring-Summer issue of this quarterly contains essays onnsubjects from the Parti Quebecois to the war in El Salvador.nMan as DNA by Earl Hubbard; Philosophical Library; New York. In 12 essays the author putsnforth the proposition that man is the DNA—the plan—that will play a key role in the evolutionnof the solar system.nnn