The Swiss Without Halos, by J. Christopher Herold. 8vo., 271 pp. New York, 1948: Columbia University Press. Price, $3.75.

Mr. Herold’s book is disingenuously titled. The Swiss Without Halos is not an exercise in debunking—quite the contrary. But no fault will be found with it on this score by one hardly less schwärmend for the Swiss than the author. Readers whose experience and erudition place them on a footing with Mr. Herold may feel that his facts and his conclusions, so far as these bear on the political, social and cultural history of the Swiss, are open here and there to correction; but this reviewer is content to accept both quite uncritically. Fewer than five of Mr. Herold’s 271 pages (index included) have induced this attitude, and the gist of them follows:

“Alpinism … is an ultimate expression of individualism and equali- tarianism, which it reconciles and fuses.…

“In a sport like baseball, the competition takes place between men. In Alpinism, it takes place first of all inside man—for he must conquer his own weakness and fear before he can conquer anything else—and then between man and nature. For technical reasons it is impossible for a single man to undertake a difficult ascension. Thus, as in every competitive sport, there are a team … and leader.…

“But there is only one team, not two. There is no trace of competition between the humans, only co-operation. Anyone who likes to excel the members of his party in anything but mutual subordination will never make an Alpinist. The way is shown by the strongest and most experienced, but the pace is set by the weakest and the least competent. The ethical code of Alpinism is simple and trite: one for all and all for one.…

“In the matter of discipline the spirit is democratic rather than military. The leader is servant, not master; the followers obey because each of them owes discipline to the rest.… Thus, the experience of Alpinism makes possible on a small scale what seems to be impractical on a large one: a society of distinct individuals acting as one for their mutual benefit. An ideal ascension is the symbolic acting out of a philosophy of life.… “The ultimate object of an ascension is the self-fulfillment of the individual. It is for his own sake, not for anyone else, that he seeks the danger, vanquishes the difficulties, and ultimately obtains the feeling of release and mystic union upon reaching the goal. Yet as a lone individual he would never be able to experience this self-fulfillment, but would stray and perish on the way. Therefore he renounces his individuality in whatever regards the means toward obtaining self-fulfillment, reserving to himself only the ultimate experience. The philosophy might be summed up in five words: work together and enjoy separately.

“It is a noble philosophy, and it is a noble sport that embodies it.”

That Mr. Herold himself is no climber seems evident from his use of the term Alpinism. But few of the hundreds—or thousands— of climbers who have given answers to the question: “Why do you climb?” have made as much sense.

Edward Cushing