BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2582, 2 October 1915, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY

NELSON'Sj HISTORY OF THE WAR. It must long-ago have been recognised by students, of the war that it is. well nigh /impossible to gain any broad and clear grasp, of the fighting— and its' full meaning—from:-a perusal, day by day,' qf ;the various cablegrams : relating to the; colossal struggle now in progress ..in Europe. The cabled news of .isolated engagements, their principal features, as these are perceived by the' correspondents—themselves sadly ; if'.properly hampered by of the censorship—may excite leelings of temporary elation, anxiety, or even depression. But the.nows as received and read day by day is necessarily so scrappy, and' so disconnected, as to prevent that fall clarity .of comprehension, which' tho observer and student is so desirous of possessing.: It ii only when wo study tho -war. by piiases, or periods, that we can obtain a consequent-and profitably intelligent grasp of the various campaigns. , Facilities for tho study of the war by phases are not numerous. Scores upon scares of hooks have been published dealing with the personal experiences; of: war correspondents and others in the earlier stages of:; the war, but of ■ connected and detailed narratives, of each successive and'-, really important; stage of the struggle, there aro but , two. One is " 'The Times' History of the .War." which possesses, it must be granted, many admirable features, especially in its wealth of illustrations.

The other, and to "Liber's" mind, an immeasurably superior publication for the serious student of t-liei war who does not wish to plough through hundreds of pages of indirectly interesting but _ not always' strictly relevant matter, is that popular publication, "Nelson's History of the War," by Mr: John Buchan. . This work is;published in shilling volumes (N.Z. price, Is; 3d.), which are issued from time to time-— the latest volume (Vol. VI) having 1 just recently been published. A set-ofthose volumes already published roaches me from the firm of Messrs. Wliitcombe and Tombs, and I am thus enabled: to give details as to the general scope, and character of a work which, on-more than, one occasion/has been warmly commend•ed to the attention of my readers. Mr. J. Buchan, the author, or editor, of the work,-has wisely^adopted the period or phase plan in writing his history.' First and foremost—almost - wholly—he is' !a recorder; of well; ascertained facte,He. may comment'upon those facts as'they may seem to call for .explanation., or elucidation, but'be never indulges in the doubtfully wise luxury of prediction. It is evidently not part of his plan to -cast the glamour of any forced "picturesqueness" over the events he records and desvcribes. - There is no ne?d for any such theatrical flamboyance as that with, which certain.of the old-time War, correspondents, were wont to regale their readers. Nothing can be more dramatic, at times more tragic, than the simple reoord of the actual There is no netcessity. for verbal embroidery or "frills," and iu a history, especially such as month-to-month, phase-by-phase history such as this. Any surplusage, in the way-of ''fine -writing," .real or merely attempted,' would be an'' imperiince. ■ ' ■ ■ • •

In volume 1,, which, by tho way, includes a laudably brief but powerfully written preface-by. Lordßosebery, Mr. Buchan,deals with events from the beginning of the war to the fall of Na-, mur.. In volume II he continues the 6tory, with special reference t<>. tho desperate fighting between tha battle of Mons and' the German retreat on the Aisne. In the third volume, the field of operations' having widened, .the.interest, is more varied.' Here we have descriptions of tho progress of the war on ,the o;ean to the; battle in the Bight of Heligoland.- On land the interest centres round the first and second phases of the great Battle of ihe Aisne; tho first Russian advance through. Galicia; the war in Africa; and the fall of Antwerp. In volumo IV we have a detailed story of the groat struggle in Western Flanders; the two first-German, attacks on iWarsaw, and the fighting at sea down to the battle off the Falklands. Volume V,brings us to the war of .attrition'in the West, the campaign in the Near East (the, entrance, of Turkey into the war, and'the menace to Egypt), and the sea-fighting down to the, attempted blockade of Britain. In Volumo VI,- which brings the record as far as the end of April, .' we have descriptions of the third German attack on Warsaw, the battles, inf'the Carpathians, the. dramatic : events at Neuve Chapelle; and tho . opening 6cenes of tho Dardanelles " campaign. Tho value of -Mr. Buchan's history can best be .tested by a study of any one of. the various phases " described. I commend a study of tho much-discussed JS'euvo Chapelle battle. Anyone who lias hitherto only depended upon the daily newspaper, account of this great struggle oan bavo no .due comprehension of its real character. A perusal of the one chapter which Mr.,Buchan devotes to this subject cannot fail" to remove many misconceptions; and place the battle in an entirely new and,vastly more interesting light:

It would 1)0 easy, were space available, -to write at very much - greater lengbh in estimation of the interest and educational value of this excellent work. One specially - good: feature is tho wealth of maps and diagrams, by use of which the various battles and operations generally ace described and explained. ""In some volumes the number of these maps is as high as thirty; always are they strictly pertinent to the text. It is safe to say that never lias a war of any outstanding- importance, been described with such care and in such simply eloquent and effective style as that which is characteristic of Mr. Buchan's- narrative. The volumes of his work should find a place on the shelves of every household. For school libraries it should not be regarded as a luxury but as an absolute necessity. • - ■

KULTUR AND CATASTROPHE. A second series of the excellent articles on vai'ious phases of the war which have been contributed by Mr. Theodore Andrew Cook to the London "Field" have now been republished in book form by Mr. John Murray, .forming a continuation of the. same author's earlier es-. says published in the volume entitled "Kaiser, Krupp, and Kultur." In his preface to the ne.v series, Mr. Cook makes special reference to the Government Blue Book on German- Atrocities, which, so no claims, more than justifies the opinion ho had expressed, long beforo its publication, on the necessity ' for treating the enemy as being beyond the pale of all ordinary international law. He says:— "Those opinions need no further emphasis since the sinking of tno Lusitania and the Falaba, the use of venomoas gases in l 1 landers, and, • the poisoning of the water supply in South Africa," which are but tho logical sequel of the atrocities in Belgium. All the seven seas can never wash away the stains of . crimes like these., Such penalties as ' capital punishment, penal servitude, or solitary, confinement .would be thg

least the .individual criminal would suffer for similar enormities. Wo tfhall continue this war- until l the German nation has begun to'realise an appropriate and practical com- : bination of all three; for in that nation there nas never yet been a single voice of generous protest audible; and there does not yet seem to have been a single ■ slave who ventured .to. disobey the orders of the Arch-Assassin on the Throne. The whole ivorld cries aloud for vengeance on this community of murderers, who have uroken every law of God and man, and rejoice . over.the.sufferings of their victims. They have not only disgraced tho very name of war; they havo made it impossible for any other nation ' to live with tliem in peace when . war is over." Strong language, but will'any reader of this column venture to contend it is one whit too strong? \Mr. Cook's coucise and vigorous style makes his essays, in many of whicfh there is evidenco of very original thought and careful observation, exceedingly good reading: (Price, Is. 3d.)

THE HEALTH OF. THE CHILD. To Messrs. Methuen's useful "Health Series," a series of books the purpose or which is-"to'aid seekers after good health and wholesome bodies," has been added a volume entitled "The Health of tho Child: A Manual for Mothers and Nurses." The author, Dr. .0. Hildesheiin, has special' qualifications for his task; as for some years he held the position of llouso Physician at the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond St., London, an institution in -the ■ establishment of which, and in furtherance of whose excellent work, Charles Dickens was long and laudably active. A preface to Dr. Hildeslieim's work is contributed by Dr. G. F. Still, Professor of Diseases of Children at King's College Hospital, London. Dr. Still is of opinion that the need for instruction in the feeding and fearing of children has increased with, tlio advance of civilisation, and the comploxity of modern life,, for, he says, "not only, aro thero introduced dangers ar.d "difficulties, appertaining to artificial modes of life, but at the period when most an infant should receive from its mother tho nourishment which above all other? lays the foundation- of_ a- sound and healthy constitution, this is becoming less and less often possible of attainment. -The reasons for this are twofold,'the exigencies of modern social life which intervene increasingly between mother and child; and, a fact of sinister outlook, the diminishing capacity for suckling wljicli. seems to be one of the penalties of present-day conditions." In successive chapters, Dr. Hildesheim deals with the growth and development of the child; its health before birth; food and feeding; hygiene of the nursery; child sickness; and the training of. the child. As in earlier volumes of the series, the' author's treatment of his subject is concise, to the point, and free, as far as possible, from technical terms. (New Zoaland pries, Is.. 3d.) . .. .