Quakers World Wide: A History of Friends World Committee for Consultation (review)

108Quaker History France), and of the strategies of such idealistic organizations as the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. The interplay of class, race and gender issues is effortlessly and naturally woven throughout the narrative, avoiding the "separate-chapter" treatment often afforded these topics. The authors promise a volume "about the tug of war between ideological commitments and economic interests, between leaders and followers, between slaves and masters that occurred in Pennsylvania in the eighteenth century over the issue of slavery." They deliver admirably on that promise. Savvy reviewers are supposed to scour the text for flaws in reasoning or interpretation in the volumes they review. One is hard-pressed to do this with this volume. This is good, sound, readable history, a work which ought to inspire us all to not shy away from complexity and integration in the presentation of the American story. Haverford CollegeEmma Jones Lapsansky Quakers World Wide: A History ofFriends World Committeefor Consultation. By Herbert M. Hadley. York, Eng.: Sessions, 1991. xvii + 220 pp. Illustrations , appendices, and indexes. Paper, $15. The story of the Friends World Committee for Consultation has now been told in an astonishingly thorough way. It has been told by a man who has been in close touch with world-wide Quaker enterprises for a quarter of a century, with ties in both the United States and Britain. Herbert Hadley, after long service on the staff of the World Committee, and with personal acquaintance with the four sections of the Committee, has put many of us in his debt by his careful research into this particular phase of Quaker history, extending over a period of seventy years. The story of Quaker expansion centers largely on a series of world conferences, beginning with a conference in London in 1920, and continuing with a Fifth World Conference in 1991 . The 1991 Conference has been unique in that it meets in three countries, The Netherlands, Honduras and Kenya. It is fortunate that Herbert Hadley's scholarly book is available to help persons of a new generation to know what their historical roots are. It will enable any student of Quakerism to know how we have reached the position in which we now stand. Quakerism began in England, the founding date being 1652, but very quickly it spread to other countries and to the English colonies in America. It was natural, therefore, for the 300th anniversary to be celebrated in 1952. This was marked by a highly successful conference held at Oxford, attended by 900 Friends from many parts of the world. Herbert Hadley tells something about this conference which many readers might not otherwise know, namely, that all of the attenders were housed and fed in the Oxford College, at no expense to themselves. This was made possible by a generous gift of £30,000 from Barrow Cadbury. This is a good example of the kind of detailed information which Herbert Hadley has been able to provide. The conference at Oxford enabled the Friends World Committee to start a new and highly productive life, which continues to this day. The Fifth Meeting of the World Committee was held immediately after the World Conference and established the pattern of growth that soon became world wide. We are told in the Hadley book of the participation of representatives from 38 yearly meetings and groups. Book Reviews109 Now we are in a new era when it helps to be reminded of the work of the pioneers. Herbert Hadley appreciates the workers of a half-century ago, particularly Passmore and Anna Elkinton, who labored to bring Friends together. For all of this we are grateful. Lansdale, Pa.D. Elton Trueblood The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker. Ed. by Elaine Forman Crane. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1991. 3 vols., xxvi + 2398 pp. Maps, illustrations, charts, biographical directory, notes, bibliographies, and indexes. $210. Elizabeth Sandwich Drinker (1735-1807), a Philadelphia Quaker matron, kept a diary from 1758 to 1807. In the first years her entries were skimpy, but by 1778 she was committed to a daily paragraph, sometimes a page in length, in which she summarized the weather, the health of members of her family and servants, callers she had received, and the news of...