BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2576, 25 September 1915, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

FRANCE IN WAR TIME. - Mr. Rowland Strong,; the author of '"The Diary of an English Resident in France During Twenty-two /Weeks-of WarTimo" (London, Evcleigh Nash), is a well-known writer cn France and,the being the author of - an excellent book on- Paris, and having a special and very intimate' knowledge of French life, not only in. the once "gay" capital, but also in the provincial towns and country, districts. . When war broke out Mr. Strong | found-- himself ■ on '.the French Riviera, .at Nice, and between then and the", end of last year visited many. French : centres, such 1 as' Villefrauche, Toulon, Paris, Rouen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Reims, Bordeaux, Tarascon, and Marseilles. ,He does not occupy himself- solely with recording military operations, but is more conoerhed with- the . attitude, of all classes of society to the war,, the way, in which the news of alternate successes and reverses," as they; were chronicled week by week,, was; ■ received by the. -people, and .the general 'effect 1 of the great struggle upon the.community at large. -••

Mr. Strong ;has : ' a pleasant, gossippy. style of his own, and whilst;_not tenoring the dramatic, even tragic, side of war, occasionally introduces a note-of quiet, humour. It -is. clear, from what ho says on the spy question, - that Franco was over-run, when the war broke out, and for some months afterwards, by secret agents of the German Government.- Italians and Swiss, especially the latter, are" mentioned as having been specially numerous and active at Nice, " Monte '- Carlo, 'and I regret to notice that, always according to the ; author, many Americans were also . engaged in doing the dirty work of the Hulls. The ;book contains many somewhat sensational statements, some of 'which the author 'appears to make -on rather .ddubtfiil' foundation, statements long ere this proved to have beeii the veriest-canards,, only of being swalloiyod by those silly people whom the French term "les gooemouciies." ~ ■ : j ' ' . -- :

On certain, points Mr:: Strong _gtves information, which, is decidedly interesting. For. instance,-writing from Bordeaux, in: November, last, he says: There, can-be no doubt that the. '/ unexpectedly rapid march., of -the, : Germans on ;Paris, ■: and '.the equally : . unforeseen rapid reduction of the forts of Liege and' Namiir by tho - ; . heavy Austrian . artillery, caused a ■ C real panio in Paris, extending itself' in no small measure' .to: the Gov- .: ernment. ";It: was at this moment , ■ that peace 1 suggestions were,' it is) . said, jput forward, apparently from Germany, through the channel of' . the Spanish Ambassador, according to which, Franco was to pay :fivo /; .milliards, of francs .war indemnity, , and acquiesce in the annexation by Germany v .of Belgium,, as well .as surrender ?to Germany all' her Algerian possessions. . . Germany,- . subject; to these conditions, agreed; ■'.. Bot to' enter Paris.' ! It is jjossible and likely that-these .details: are ! exaggerated, and that the. French'. Government never entertained the . offer, but nevertheless it was just at this, date that the treaty between tho Allies was signed, on the initia-. tive of: England, by which Vthey bound themselves not to make an. independent peace! So no. doubt there was something, in the air..

Here, top, is a curious side light on the character of von Rennenkampf, who;'at first gaining some -successes'; for the Russians in -Eastern Prussia, .was afterwards outmanoeuvred and badly beaten' in 'the swamp country by von/. Hindenhurg. "According to Don' 'Jaime ■ (the. Legitimist .Carlist Pretender), who ."was passing through Sice some time. ago. von Rennenkampf was a, "faiseur'■ (boaster), an- incorrigible looter (all the qualities, in fact, of his .German • descent),! and a quite;'incompetent.:; general." Later on the author mentions a rumour, emanating from an ex-Russian 1 General 1 living at Nice, that, von'Rennenkampf had not merely been cashiered, but shot as a .spy.' Mr. Strong, did not implicit Iy accept this story, but expresses . his own opinion that von Rennenkampf "was responsible for the Russian left failing to connect" with the Russian right in the operations round Lodz," and refers (by name) to a certain French General "who is_ also reported to have been shot for a similar betrayal on.the French western front at the commencement: of the war",; though, of course, he. wasn't.

Mr. Strong tells some grim stories of the Senegalese troops. Like our own Goorkhas, they do not seem to understand either, giving or taking quarter. Says Mr. Strong'. . The. stories, they tell! No "Boche" (German) really dead unless head .cut off." .They were given a lot of German prisoners to guard, and . the sergeant-major, who had to go to headquarters to make his report, gave strict orders that none was to be allowed to escape. "When ho came back, they- ' said: "See, sergeant, , none of- . Boches escaped." And there lay all the prisoners yith their heads out off! No doubt the French 'troops have committed barbarities, but they can-be hardly blamed''for doing! so, when the ghastly deeds of the Germans in- Belgium and in certain French towns are recalled: - .

Apart from the Senegalese (writes : Mr. Strong), the French troops gen--1 eraliy are, from what I hear, get- . ting tired of the murdering by. the Germans of their prisoners, and secret reprisals are not infrequent. G— — R—— knows sergeantmajor invalided hero (Nice), for the moment, who related 'to him that when he was : at the front his regiment, tho rd foot, took a. number of German prisoners, who were dispatched to the rear undercscort. AVhen the escort got them into , a s wood, whero no officer was looking on, they brained them all with the. : butt ends of their rifles. This was to revenge a number of their comrades whom the Germans had fore-' cd, in accordance with their favour- ' ifco cowardly practice, to ■ march in • front of their attacking line. Mr.' Strong, however, reminds his readers that while in this case tho French soldiers waited till their officers were out .of sight," it is generally on the direct order of their officers that the Germans break the rules of war and commit barbarities. Mr. Strong's- book is an exceedingly interesting. contribu; tion to the story of the war. (Price 7s. 6d.)