It was children's week. All over the northern hemisphere they were going back to school (see EDUCATION). Around the whole world their lives were being shaped in treaties, liberations, new laws, new beginnings.
The shadowy outlines of order would not be clear or put to the test until the children grew up. But it was a hopeful week. In London the Council of Foreign Ministers was patching up Europe (see Conferences). The liberation of Asia had signally failed to produce explosions and cataclysms gloomily prophesied a month ago (see The Liberation).
Beneath the nations and their complex dealings were the...