Books: A Figure in History

ARTIE GREENGROIN, PFC. — Harry Brown—Knopf ($2.50).

Wan, talkative Artie Greengroin was part of a period which is fast slipping into history. He lived, in the words of his 28-year-old creator, Private Harry Brown, "in the grimly fabulous time when we were building up our military strength in Britain in preparation for the invasion of Europe . . . a time of enforced inactivity . . . in which the average American soldier . . . was alternately bored, astonished, delighted, and depressed by what he saw about him." In a long-running series for the British edition of Yank, Artie became about...