BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 11

BOOKS OF THE DAY

"Life in a Tank." In-"Life in a Tftiilc" " (floddor mid Sloughton)' Captain T'ii.'lini'tl Haigh, M.C., n : 'captain in tlio Tank Corps, gives .lis n. well-written nnd informative description of tiink' warfare as lie experienced it'on' the' Western' froiit.' The. huf lior- lias a vigorous and vivacious 'style; nii'd; frhilst; dwelling lipon . the 'splendid service- rendered to the Allies oil the Somriie'anil els'ewliere l>v the uncirii til -Icokiiigr''-but" death-dealing. monsters whose first '.appearance' spread such dismay ■ iii the enemy's ranks, emphasises 'fbe-'humo'rons side of the tank warrior's life.'■ He.'(lesirilje.s the genesis of - the 'tanks;, tho traininjf. of those w-lio maimed Ihsim the-movements of the funk- Corps iip.- to' tlie" figlitiiitr line,, and the ' Tumi preparations for tlie : "sh'o'w." ' Then fol-ioV-dramali6;iles.crji)tjons of the.first and second-"brittleS in' which tlie. tanks were-, engaged," : and. a short' hmmnt • of - the resting- experiences of the; crews, ..with #! fitiill" chapter "entitled. -"A'' Philosophy of . War.'"'''''Tank fighting is a ' very - serious matter for -tlie' commanders aiid ''crows" of the "buses',"'-as they 'are popularly. called. Says- Captain llaiyli . ■, ■ •

'Although one in nrotected from uiacliine-gun'-fire in a tank,'tlie sense" of confine•'nient' is at times terrible. One floes not .know.'what'.'is-happening outside-his little steel prison. One often cannot'see where the machine., is -going. • The noise inside is deafening, the heat terrific, Bombs shatter on the : roof and on all sides. Bullets spatter savagely against tlie walls. Ilioro is an. awful, lack, of knowledge; a feeling .of blind - helplessness...at being cooped.up. One is entirely" at:flic inercy of tile'-bi?'shells.-' If « shell hit's' a tank near' the - petrol tank? tho men. may 'per■islt.- as did poor .Gould,-, without , achanceof escape. .. Going down with your Bhip iconis p|eas'ant compared .'to burning up with your tank, In, flprlitiiic in the opeii one.lias. least,, air and space.

"Cnptnin "Haigh.'s excellent .little lioolc should', find" many interested readers. (Price 2s. Cd.)

"Plane Tales Froni.the Skies," . " ;Jn wittily entitled volume, "Piano Tales-From tho''"Skies" (Cassell. and Co., per S.: arid 'AV. ' Jlackay,), "Wing - Adjutant;". whose, earlier book; "Tim ' Koyni' •Plying' Corps in the War;''.'.gave it detailed' account of training and service duties of-a military airman, has collected a. number of welKwritten stories and sketches' of"the life and work of the British aviators on the Western front and elsewhere, which have appeared in various periodicals under his name. The various stories are-vouched for as being 'founded on fact, and represent the actual -experiences of pilots and observers, whoso names, however, could , not, for obvious reasons, be given when the book wits, published. the war being then still in progress. Ono-of the sketches, entitled "Airmen of tlie Sea,", gives an account 'of the part played by airmen in compassing the destruction of German submarines, and. as a forecast based upon a recognitio'i of the wonder-laden future possibilities of aviation, the concluding sketch, ''The Aerial Mail, 1921," is specially interesting. A'very leaduble book. 1

"Nelson's History, of the War." ■ ' ' Volume twenty of "Nelson's History of ,tlie, War'" (Nelson' and Sons,-.per Whitccimba and ,Tombs) briiigs Colonel Bucli■an's now,'anions narrative of the,war up tn the iiutilmn of 1917. Beginning with a clear and comprehensive survey of the strategic position generally in the third year of the war, the historian gives .detailed description!}- of the Third B.attle of Ypres, and the terrific struggles for ever to be associated with-the names of Messiiies and Passchendaele.' The chapters which, describe tho fighting in these .sectors-i.are.-6f. special, interest to! New' whose, gallant 'fellow-country-. ■jiieh I 'never .Might a more desperate, fight tha.i on the' Ifessines-W.vtscliaetc Eidge, on the Mcnin Eoad, and oil the-Posachen-' daele..liidge. .The struggle.was lit its hottest and 'heaviest in September. It was the 20th day . that tho "kernel of tlie German defence in this salient was cracked," says' Colonel 'Buchnn : • .

Tho battle showed a." limited ' advance, and. the total of 3000 prisoners had often ..been exceeded in a single day's fighting; but. ever.v.Mnch of. the ground won was vital. We had carried tho southern pillar on which the security of the rasschendaele Hldge depended. Few struggles in the campaign were more desperate, or carried out on" n, more gruesomo battlefield. Tho mazei of' quagmires, . splintered woods, ruined husks of "pill-boxes," water-filled shell-holes, and foul creeks, which made up the land on both sides of the Mcnin Road, was li sight which to the recollection -of mo3t men; must seem a' fevered nightmare.' It was the classic soil on which "during the First , Battle of Ypres the Ist and 2nd Divisions had stayed the German rush for,'the-Channel. Then it had . been a. broken but still recognisable and ' featured countryside; now' the ele- 1 ments' seemed to'have blended with each other;to : niake of it a limbo outside mortal experience,' l and almost beyond- human imagining. Only on some of the'tortured hills of Verdun could a-parallel be found. The battle of September 20 was a proof of what heights of endurance the British soldier mnv attain to. It was an example, too. of how thought and patience may achieve success in spite of every disadvantage of weather, terrain, and enemy strength."

In " the fiilocoeding chapter Colonel Buchan' deals witli the reshuffling of Germany's nditical cnwls, tho fnll of Bethinann-llollweg, (ho abortive Stockholm Conference,' the advent, first of Michaolis, and ilien of von Ivulilmann to the' /Chancellorship, and the final appointment of Hertling. The'changes in policy Hertling's accession to ■jiow.fv connoted are also set forth in detail. The two filial chapters are devoted respectively to the summer fighting at Verdun and on the Aisn.e and the Tiussiun downfall'. Colonel Huclian attributes lu'.rensky^'failure to llio- fact 'that "lie aimed. at- the impossible.- the reconciliation of the Ifussinii people in a new purpose. He did' not r.ucceed: but lei us lit'" least "admit the sad' nobility of his aim." The appendices again contain documentary matter of. the highest'importance. to students, not only of the actual struggle on. the various fronts, but of ils political, side. The table of contents, that, most valuable feature of Colonel Buchan's masterly work, gives a'war ehronoloev from .li'ilv 1, 1!)1G to .Tune 130, 1917. "...

"The Iron Ration." .'-'The iron ration" is the name for (lie Tooil the .soldierioarries in his pack when in tlie field. It'may be eaten only wbeii the commanding ofllcer deems this necessary and wise. ,Wli.e,n the "iron'ration" is released, no coinniiind that, the. soldier should eat. is necessary. ]Ie is hungry then—furnished. Usually by Unit lime lie has been on half, third, and ouarter rations. Tho "iron ration" "is the last food in si.Tht. There may bo more tomorrow. -Hut tha tis not. the motive of the commander for releasing the food. What he has to deal with'is the fact, tliat his men are on the verge of exhatiFtion.

Such are the opening fpiitpncas of I lie Itfpfncp .to llr. Qi'oi'hp ■ Aht'l ftehrti tier's book, "The Iron 'Tintihn: Hip llconouiie aiiil .Social Effects of Ihe'Allipd lllocl;ailo oii' fformnny and tlio German People" (Loudon. .1 oil 11 - Murray, per AViiifcombe and Tombs). Mr. Sell wilier, who wrote Ihe preface lo his book ill January. 191 S. ielln us that lie ohose Hie designation of llip "iron ration,'' tlio eiiiprgeiu'.v inpil, as lieini} specially impropriate to a work dpaliiif; with lite in Central Eni'dpo as it was inlluenced by the war. The author is o well-known Ampviean journalist, who knows Ihe Gorman language almost perfectly, and had special opportunities dunii" his last sojourn in Germany and Austria lostudying tlip social problenis creatpd by Iho war. Klalioned at The lla?ne when, Ihe war broke mil, lis re])resenlalive of Hie Associated Press of Anicrici. lie was ordered to Berlin, and laler was given cnrle blnnthe to describe Ihe war conditions in Auslrin-TTiiiifriiry. linniania, linlparia, and Turkey. In Ihe course of bis three years' slny in Hurone be visited each ot' llic fronts. Whilst soundly convinced as lo Ihe 'responsibility hf Prussian Junkerdom, plus Prussian Xlililarism for Ihe war, .Mr. S'cbreiner does not disguise Ins (minion that upon tbe shoulders of the German ppople—"a good neonle, earncsl, law-abiding, tbrifiy, un-

assuming, industrious, painstaking, temperate, and charitable"—must rest a largo share of the responsibility. .They j believed their .Government infallible and ..so tolerated what was in fact, if not ill /inline, a purely .. absolutist Government, .which, ended a .long career- of vile, intrigue and criminal ambition by thrusting a horrible .war upon Kuro-pe. Ilow heavy..was the price paid by. the .Get'.man people for. this 'unfounded-belief in llie infallibility of their Government. Jlr Kchreiuei: shows us in a series of carefully but vigorously drawn studies of social and. industrial conditions (luring (he war. His book proves- beyond llie shadow of a doubt that-no matter, how many and glorious the victories that could be won by the German armies ultimate defeat: w/as ;i certainty'sri long as Britain's command' (if the sea remained unbroken; That Germany could not shake oil' tlio stranglehold of the British Navy was proved first by the armistice, and.Sccond•Jv byMho'ignominou's..surrender of- the High'.'Seas' Fleet..- The .book represents Hie result, of long aml'/careful firsthand observation and . investigation..' If. shows us -how marvellously comprehensive was llie.'system under, which Hie' food siipnlv was organised and controlled by the .German Government, and in its exposition of the industrial conditions provides a- 'striking-'.' tribute . to- the '.thoroughness of".German -methods. But the grip in which the British Navy held, .the/Central Powers was too.firm'to'bo broken,: and slowly but surely the' spectre of ultimate starvation be?aii;.t/r threaten the - people. Undoubtedly " this must h.avo .tended to' create-a feeling of nonu■lar.despair, a feeling ivhich could hot fail in time'to have its effect upon the enemy's :ligh ling power/ " As-a study of one, at: least, of the most powerful factors in the .final triumph of'the Allies, •Jfr. Schreine.t's book has' a distinct historical value. Several illustrations, .reproductions of food cards', ■ etc., add to the: interest of-.the book.

Norman Angcll's Latest Book

Norman Angell's latest book, ,'Tho Political. Conditions •of Allied Success" (N..Y. and London: G.- P. Putnam and Sons) ,is described by the author, as "a I'lea for...the protective- union of democracies." • 'Whatever Norman. Angell's theories about war may haveibefn in tin* past, lie litis-keen, he tells us,ail earnest advocate of .American participation in the war, and there is nothing, he contends, in his book which runs counter to the assumptions that-the "destruction of Prussian military pojvfer is essential: to the'future peace''of the world"; that "no peace tolerable to free 'men can-be secured, by negotiation with'a Government that defends the character of the BrestL_itov.sk .Treaty," and that "no Leslie of Nations can be- workable or. reliable so long: as the Prussian military system is predominant in Europe.'" This was written in May last year. . Since then Germany has been defeated and the Allies are face to 1 face with a. sst .of. thorny and !. difficult problems which-must be ,-olved,' if possible, 'on a permanent basis, before the world can haw any guarantee of tlmt new era of peace for which its soul lias so . sorely hungered.' 111'. Angell's new book is composed apparently of lectures and articles delivered in America, or which .have.,appeared in American journals. , The a-uthor.'s alignments in favour of _ "preparedness for peace" lose some-' thing of their force in-that peace lias come nuicli sooner than he evidently anticipated. Nevertheless the lectures and articles have a present-day value in that they provide material for much useful thought on such questions as the League of Nations, the economic relations of the Allies with Germany, and the necessity, iii.-the future, of organising/international political combinations ;for. .'international welfare. As to "the economic weapon," the author remarks:

Its effectiveness is conditional upon the future of the Alliance. • The. U3c of 'such an instrument by a loosely co-ordin-ated eroun; with all sorts of disintegrating forces at work within • it. would be far.more lifcolyto <iid our owp dismiitim than, to be taken very seriously by t-lio enemy. This economic instrument could perfectly well, bo used as part of the coercive machinery of civilisation, 011 condition thnt we havo sufficient degree of unity and agreement 011 the. oniis for which it is employed.

Mr. Angell appears to favour the establishment of an International Legislajuro or Deliberalive. Assembly, but on this and many other points dealt, with in the book lie is far. from .being so de--11111 to and lucid as lie might be.

"My German Prisons." ,' . Dedicated to Mr. James W- Gerard, late ■ United .States Ambassadorial Berlin,""to 'whom every British prisoner owes a.debt til gratitude which can never be repaid," Captain 11. G. Gillilnnd's book, "My Gorman Prisons, being tlie experiences of sin officor during two and a half years as a prisoner of war". (Ilodder and 'Stougliton), will, so the author expresses the hope, "bring home to the war-weary and despondent a knowledge of the infampns, relentless-,character of the linn, deliberately dehumanised, by-the State for the purposes of the Slate.'.' Wounded, taken prisoner at what was known' as the La Basse'e Caual position, the author witnessed Germans finishing off our. wounded with the bayonet. 'Phis'fate Captain willilaml was, however., fortunate enough to escape, but almost immediately after being cnptifred he was robbed of his cigarette case, field glasses, compass, and all his money. Even h is, .signet ring was wrenched off his finger, jn company with two other prisoners, he was taken to Lille, and thence, in a cattle truck, to il linden, the truck being "disgustingly dirty and not.even provided with straw. 1 ' At one of llie smaller.stations where (lie train, stopped.' OeniMii officers went through the trucks and robbed officers and men alike of any warm clothing they niightjiave. For. two. nights and -three days "absolutely 110 sanitary arrangc.nients of any kind were made for (he prisoners." At Munden the prison camp hospital was in "an Appalling slate of filth." No newspapers or periodicals of any sort were nlloive.d—not even German, and only a rag called "Tlie'Continental Times: A. Journal for. Americans in Europe"—probably the most scandalous paper ever produced,- copies of which should certainly he reprinted after the declaration of peace, and. would be worth ( a guinea a copy. In a lew weeks tho officer prisoners were removed to Biscliofswerda, where theircjuarlers were "well planned .and beautifully clean"— ill 1.! author is always scrupulously fair ' to Hie Germans—and where (lie food was, oqrlv in 1!tl, r ), (|uilo wholesome. Here tho author met a peculiarly objectionable type of lluu, the camp commandant, who/ when he attended early .morning parade, never failed to "shout ami scream himself hoarse, calling us Schweiiihuiule, olle die Enghinder sind Sehweinhunde, lneine Horreii' " (all ihe English officers are dogs of swine). After the visit of the American Commission, to wiionrthc prisoners complained, flic insult was dropped, tlie commandant being "henvily-strafed from headquarters." Iff September. 101"), the ilullior was removed to Claiisthal; in the llartz. for medical treatment, passill!,, en route, through his old prison camp at Mlinden, where, owing to the good offices of the American Ambassador. the American Y.M.C.A. had been allowed to creel a sort of recreation room, 11 lid where the camp generally had , been.' cleaned up. Capiat 1 Gilliland says that whenever things were going well with the German advance. 1 ho lot of llie British prisoners was made as hard as possible. When, 011 the nlher.haml. tilings looked black for the Mini the prison renditions .at once became more supportable. "Our victory on the. Soninie. for instance,'brought us all sorts of I title concessions." As tho author says, "The liiiche is before all tilings a bully. If he is winning he bullies; if lie is losing, he is polite and oily." Owing to being sospVcted of having assisted a Canadian officer in his attempt to escape, Captain Gilliland was court-marliailed mid grossly insulted, and later on was transferred to a hospital at Dresden, and next to what he calls "Iho hell hole of Ingolstadl." The Ingolstadt

prison campjind its "blond beast" of. a commandant have been described iu several previously published narratives of British prisoners,, and it is sincerely to be hoped that, tile man Who .exhausted human ingenuity in inventing both mental and physical lorture.s for-his unfortunate charges is now being hunted down by . the Allies and will, in duo course, receive the punishment lie so richly deserves. At last the good news came. that some of the prisoners wore, again to be moved on. Ibis time to (Vefeld, in West - phalia. On the way to C'refeld the author, in company with -three other Dritish prisoners, managed to escape froth.the train, and the last, hundred pages of the book are devoted to li. stirring story of. adventiiro, which eventually closes with a description of (he author's arrival iu Dutch'.territory.' and a eulogv of his kindly .treatment, by a.. .Dutcli ollicer. Throughout the long 1 and perilous journey the author had 'for 'companion an-, other officer, Captain Stewart. The pair had more than one very narrow squeak, of being recaptured, but-their good'luck stuck 'to tliem. Captain'; Gillilaiid tolls a plain, straightforward story,., which,, however, is in places 'more, exciting: than many a sensational novel. ■ "Mr. Hughes—A Study,'!.: ' To a certain class of British politician and journalist, the very name of Mr. Hughes, .the Commonwealth Prime Minister, is anathema.. The. politicians to whom Free-trade. is; a- fetish, the. sanctity of which it is. the highest, of. misdemeanours to oven doubt, who in the past were "Little Knglaiulers," : and who' to-day, even after the 'wat : -should' have proved the value of British oversea support to the. Motherland,'. Riill sneer at: ? 'the (joloiiles,"' regard 'Mr. Hughes .and his sturdy Imperialism with profound suspicion.- In jouirnals of" the type of the "Daily News" (that "poison gasbag" an Mr. Lloyd George called it), and "The Nation," Mr. Hughes i.« regularly and systematically assailed. as. a. poljtical charlatan, an impudent, interfering fellow whose duty. it was to remain in Australia, and whose chief oll'ence.itis to dare to dispute' the -dicta of-the' Free: trade mandarins. The authorship of, a book entitled "Jlr. Hughes—A'. . Study" (London: T. Fisher Unwiii),;is not' disclosed on the title page, but from internal ovidence-.it would seem to have been produced ■ by ■■ some ■ professional,' .Free-trade hack. ■In 51 r. Hughes, the anonymous author', -apparently.-,sees only an unscrupulous: and blatant-' champion of "tariffist profiteering," who dares to come boldly forward and challenge as insane ft future .. fiscal . 1 -policy which, would favour tlio German manufacturers,'.. for whose benefit. the Ilun commanders cither stole or destroyed the' nfacßinery-.. in the mills and factories of Northern France and inflicted such .damage-in. the coalmines of the Pas do Cal lis that, as wo read in the cablegrams last week, it will bo fully six years before the normal output can be reuttaiped.'. The writer of the books claims that he. "has disentangled the economic proposals 'of Jlr. . Hughes from his, declamation," and - set forth their actual bearing on industry and commerce. Whether he will induce many Australasian:, '(readers .of. his book to believe that Mr. Hughes's policy as to raw materials is "hostile" to-llie-in-'-tercsts of wool producers, is, I should; imagine, extremely doubtful, glibly and plausibly set i'orth though' certain', of the * author's arguments may be, ■ The author appears to be --■ specially wrathful over'the fact that Jlr. Hughes • has.had the, support of the "Morning Post," where, he says, "the economics ofBedlam are preached with a quite-Prus-sian persuasiveness, and an almost Bolshevik lucidity!" But. could not Jlr..'; Hughes retort that tlie'-;"econoniic's" even of Bedlam, as alleged to be, preached by, ■ the '""orning Post," are preferable to the "economics of Berlin," as preached, "with Prussian persuasiveness," by .the "Daily News" and "The Nation"? The first of these journals for ever disgraced ■ itself bv calling'an o'nti-war meeting in Trafalgar Square:, after its editor, was fully aware that Britain" had abtually.' been forced into war. As-.for . "The Nation," it had its foreign circulation suspended iu view of the ' mischievous uso to which its unpatriotic articles were being put by the! enemy. . Jlr. Hughes may have said and done-many foolish tilings, but at least his patriotism has, never been in question., , Which is asT f-uredly more than can be said of some of those ijnglisli .writers and politicians, .who have-'-belittled"lihd'abused him.' . I