BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2830, 22 July 1916, Page 6

BOOKS OF THE DAY

.(•NELSON'S HISTORY OF THE . ; J WAR." ■ Tilttme-XI of-"Nelson's History of the War?'"(Nelson and Sons; per Whitcombo and' Tombs) is now on sale in the book ehopsiAs in tho previous volumes, ✓Mr. John. Buohan gives a masterly present-ment-of the great struggle which has Sow oonvulsed. Europe for closo upon twojyoarsi Such, ail exoellent-authority as vThe Broad Arrow" declares it to bo "a jmodel of what military . history shoiild bo; tho story is'told without favourer affection; "defeat.is' called defeat; andi is not distorted by phraseological eubtlfeties, into reading victory." In the latest'instalment of Mr. Buchan deals mainly with the struggle for the Dviiia and tho Great Invasion of Serbia; 'the.'period- covered;. roughly, from early in j September to the middle of November", 1915. 'Tho first chapter deals with Bulgaria's entrance into the .ivar; the second with tho new situation in tho Near East created by Bulgaria's action. 'Next comes an interesting chapter on the ""Political: Situation in France and Britain," special' reference being made to yrhat tho- author olearly considers were very seriously needed changes at the ..War Office. .. Nurse. Cavell's execution, is •'also alluded;': to' at'some.-length. ..Mr, Buohan sa'ya

ICisa Cavcll's execution .was ft-judicial murder. It was judicial since, on . the lotrter. of the German military law, she • was liable 'to. tie- extreme penalty. . But in the case of . a woman and a nurse who .had administered to Gemian sick and wounded, tie ■pedantry, which ciacted that penalty was an; outrage on human-• deoenoy. That' the German authorities were •uneasy about their work is shown by the fceoreoy which "they insisted upon, and •which. Sir Edward Grey, in his letter to 3«Lr. Rage, rightly: denounced. There was Httlß comment in the German Rress, and Jfchere'is evidence,'that the incident was by Bo means applauded by Germany at large. Herr Zimmerman, the German Under-Sec-Wtary for-. Eoreisn • Affairs,- could: only defend it by a .legend of "a world-wide .conspiracy,":, and by. the familiar plea of .the necessity of "frightfulness.in a crisis" '•bo frighten those' who may presume on. their sex to take part in enterprises ;?un■W»Ma by death. In .France and Britain, in Holland, America the murder worked profound horror, and revealed, as in ia. Saahlig-lrt the psychology of that German exflture Trhich proposed to regenerate the world.' Yon Biasing and his colleagues etood clear m all their lean and mechani-cal-poverty of. soul, cruel by rule, brutal' by : tho' text-books, ruthless after a sealed pattern, but yot. without the. courage of their barbarity,-for-their policy was -furtively jrar-sued >and'. safeguarded with deceit.

Mr. Buchan's account of: the fierce itruggle for Bvinsk and Riga is succeeded by a chapteiv .dealing: witli the French and British counter-strokes in.the West, Afc ; tho end of September, so Mr. Buchnn estimates, the Germans received' huge reinforcements from the Bussian front, and many more divisions were collected from the German depots, most of the new strength being directed against the French in the Champagne. The author Writes in high praise of the splendid ralantry ■ displayed by the North Mid: land Division of Territorials at the Hohenzollern Redoubt (October . 13). It .waS a "soldiers' battle," and became affair of' individual gallantry and endurance., rather than .. of. any..;, battle plan."

Early-in, the moraine-of the'l4th, the fiherwoocts" had -to face a dangerous coiin---tor-Attack. and there it was that Captain C. CkYiolceES, .of the l/7th Battallion, won fiio vwtoria. Gross for a deed of most conspicuous bravery. Nearly .all his men Jrad been killed or wounded, and only two remained ,to hand him-bombs,' but'lie held "the barrier for hours against bomb attacks ■ from front and flanks. Eegsrdless i>f the fajyb that his own retreat would be .cut;' off, he'had'-"ordered a second' barrier to be,built behind liim,'in order to ensure 'the; safety "of-, tho: trench.. Finally, he was seriously, .wounded, but not before his magnificent courage and determination had enabled the. second barrier to be completed. "...

The final 'chapter, in. which tho overrunningl of Serbia is described, mako3 painful reading. Earlier in the volume Mr; Buchan states his deliberate opinion —and supports it by, some very logical aiy'nment—that tho.policy of. the Allies .with regard to; the Balkans had Leon a most mistaken ono.' He again alludes to "'fiat- initial blunder, the' landing at Gallipoli, which drained our men from more vilal'theatrcs for a hopeless task," and "Winded our oyes to lrhat was'happening further west on the mainland." When at last we did attempt to go to the." assistance ■ of. Serbia, which never should have been attacked by the Buiganais had.Jio't-our. diplomacy been so badly, at. fault,, it . was too late. The task set General Sarrail was as hopeless as tho task set General Putnik. Mr. Buchan 6ays: ... , ■

■ * It may fairlybe said that tlie.constant, -. expectation of : Allied help lad gravely ■ compromised the Serbian resistance. Wo have secn-that the refusal, of the British and French , Governments to apiprove of fin attack upon' Bulgaria, meant that the chief '■ Serbian effort. ires made on the .. . wrong front; .Further,' the presumed necessity of keeping tho army for a, joint effort with-the Allies prevented the stand vhich the soldiers longed for. Thofighting at rKatchanek and the Babuna. proved tho 'prowess of Pntnilj'a ap*my; but they' , wto never allowed to show it in a major action. ' Defence and' then withdrawal were the order of the day, tactics little ; Suited to the Serbian genius. It is probable that the Bulgarian conquest would : lave been far longer delayed, and might even -have grievoudy miscarried, if Serbia, /nod been allowed, to follow h?.r instlnota ■ ,/ and had relied upon her own mettle. As usual ?n the volume contains a largo number of "sketch maps and diagrams. Ifje apnondioes include many rduable official' documents. (Price, ls,-6d.). • MB. .WELLS ON THE WORLD. It is good to have the thought-corn-polling articles and essays which Mr. 11. G. Wells oollected a couple of years ago in a volume entitled "An Englishman Looks at the World," issued- in a cheaper form (Cassell and Co.; per S. and W. Mackay, Is; Gd.). There will be 1W readers who will agree with everything that Mr. Wells has to say. .Often ihe is too deliberately whimsical to be .takenseriously, at other times he exhibits an intolerance which coinis very, near to being, wantonly offensive. But ho is one of the few Englishmen of to-day who can Surest a seemingly dull socialogieal subject with an interest which sometimes is akin to positive fascination. Ho is always eminently readable. . Ho has often ton. accused of being "a littlo Englonder," but in more than ono of these essays he provca that tie too can "think Imperially," to quote the famous phrase wnick • the late Sir. Chamberlain adapted so skilfully from Alexander Hamilton, the groat American Federalist. He tolls his brother Englishmen some- wholesome, home ' truths on politics, education, literature, art, and life generally, and no matter what. subject ho discusses, ho is never dull,- For one essay, alone, that entitled "Tho Disease of Parliaments." this latest collection of "Wellsisms" is well worth buying. It is, of course, a plea foi- proportional representation, but it contains so many sly hits at, and so much downright common-sense about tho British Parliamentary system, that oven those who do not believe in the proposed new system of voting should vastly en- . joy it. Mr. Wells is, I am glad to see, uiidcr no illusions about what he calls • a "Sane Voting" system. Of course, it is no short cnt to the millennium, it is no way of changing human nature, and in the new type of assembly, as in the old, spite, vanity, and violence. . self-interest, and downright dishonesty will • ' play their part. But' to objcct to a reform on that account is not a, particularly effective objection. These tilings will play ' their part, but it will be a. much smaller part in the view than in tho old ! . It is like objecting to some projected and loneneeded railway, because it does not pro-, s pose to carry its passengers by immediate express to heaven. \ The article headed "Tho Common- . sense of Warfare" was, of course, it'ritUu before) tho war broke out, but al- •• tlwuffli more than one of its_ arguments aid-: contentions iaye, been falsified by

events—notably with regard to what the author believed to 'bo the impossibility, of creating a citizen army which would be of any real value—still much, very much of what Mr. Wells says as to the folly of '.'lagging behind" in'the production of submarines, airship's, and aeroplanes, lias now been proved to have been said with quite remarkable foresight and wisdom.. '1 ho purely literary-articles, such as "The Contemporary Novel" and "About Chesterton nnd Belloe," are delightful, but L must not be tempted into quotation.