BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 14, 11 October 1919, Page 11

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

(By Libeb.)

BOOKS OF THE DAY Viscount French's "1914." Copies aro now 0)1 sale in Noff Zealand of a war book round ivhich there has raged in the British Press a perfect storm of controversy. This is "3.914," by Field-Marshal French, of Yprra, K.P., 0.M., etc. (London Conatablo and Co. ; Wellington, Whitcombe and Tombs). . It deals, of course, with the events of the first and 'Second years only of 1 the war and with tho disposition and work of the British Army in Franco whilst it was ■under the author's command, The preliminary chapter affords some very .interesting'information as to tho plan followed by the British War Office in dispatching the Expeditionary. Foi:ce to France. British statesmen. did their best to prevent the war, but the British war. authorities had long foreseen that Germany might again attack France, and were much better prepared to assist the French than most of 11s, in August, 1014, ever imagined to be the case. Viscount ' French emphasises the fact that although "for a long time the General Stuffs of France and Great Britain had held conferences" and arrived at "a complete mutual understanding as to conv bined aotion in certain eventualities,' they were hampered by Belgium "remaining a 'dark horse' right to the last." , It in moat unfortunate (says Viscount French) that she could never be persuaded to decide npon her. attitude in tho ovent of a general war. All we ever had in out mind waa ''defence" against attack by Germany. We had guaranteed the neutrality of Belgium, and all reports pointed to ah intention by Germany to' violate that neutrality. What we desired above nil things '-was that Belgium should realise the danger which subsequently laid her waste. We sere anxious that . she Bhould assist and' co-pperate in i-er own defence.. The idea of "attacking" Germany through Belgium, or in any other direction, never entered our heads. ■ As a soldier Viscount French lecogniSfes the value of simplicity and directness, ami these .'are qualities which, except with regard to two or three ' events— notably the Battle of the Marne—■characterise tho narrative and bring even the most complicated strategic movements within the comprehension of the everyday civilian reader. Of the retreat from Jlons a detailed description is given, the impression being' conveyed that both the: French and British High Commands were not so fully informed as they might and ought to have been of the vast strength of the German forces just outside tne Allied • concentration area. With regard to tho famous , Entreat the author combats certain much discussed French content tions that the British retreated with such precipitanoy thr.t they failed to furnishl their Allies with the expected help at Guise;' that they made it impossible for a combined stand to be madie north of tho Marne, and, -amongst other liliin'ders and failures, failed to assist Manoury in his battle on the Ourcq, and thus lost the full fruits of the Battle of the Maine. . Viscount French severely criticises Smith-DorrienV unauthorised action, at Le Cateau, denies, most emphatically. Hint -ho immobilised the French .Eighth • Division, whose services Manoury so urgently required 011 the Ourcq, "and in other directions defonus his general, strategy. Both tlio French and British War Offices seem to have considered that General French' was unduly apprehensive, not to say downright nervous, as to the position on the. Marne. The author admits his apprehensions, which, however, ho claims were fully, justified. ' On the morning of the 31et . . . 'tho demand' that ive should , stand and fight ■was not only urgently repeated, but was actually backed by imperative messages from tne French Government, and from Lord- Kitchener and the British Government, . , . I retain the most profa.md belief ttyat had I yielded to these violent solicitations,' the whole Allied Army ■would have- been thrown back in disorder over the Marne,. and-' that- Paris would have fallen.,' ; .'. I refused, (p. 95.) It is ill its' accounts of' tho first Battle of. Ypres that the narrative is most interesting to' the ' general reader who' may; not care to follow Viscount French into the field of controversy over questions of strategy. As to. the desperate valour of: the. British soldier at Ypres,. this book gives'eloquent and authoritative- testimony. ; • • " ' As all who have read recent cablegrams are aware, Viscount' French's references, in this book, to. tho late Lord Kitchener have evoked an indignant protest from Mr. Asquith, Now that the book is here, New Zealand readers can. see for themselves upon what grounds Viscount French criticised certain features, of Kitchener's supreme direction' of . tho British- campaign, and can form their own opinions on tho points at is.sue. J'he. author is most outspoken on the subject of what .he evidently considered to have--been--the. indiscreet and. in its .effect.-, actually mischievous .interference in tho details of the campaign by the' British Government. Referring to the contention that an earlier stand 'should'have been made on the Marne, he says:—, . ' . 1 ... I have referred to tho natural anxiety which ivan equally felt by tho French. President, Government, and ge:i.erale for tho safety of Paris. The utmost pressure was brought to bear upon mo to alter my 'dispositions bo as to mako a dangerous stand on lines and in places which, in my judgment, would have exposed the British Army, to the greatest danger of annihilation. The shattered condition of my troops was not realised, | but perliapß-in view of the bituation such pressure was natural tnd inevitable. . . . But when, in spite of my earnest representation of tho true condition of affairs, the -Secretary of State for War himself, and the Government with him, brought still greater prebsuro to bear, backed by tho amthority they 'possessed, to enforce their views, I was' placed. 111 a- position, of the utmost difficulty. Lord Kitchener caine to Paris with no other object than to insist upon my arresting ,the retreat, although no sign of a halt appeared at any part of tho Allied line. Ho was ignorant of the condition of the Army as I knew iti and was mistaken in his aßser. .tion that rcinlorcemento of men and material had already reached me. The impression conveyed by his visit was that I had greatly magnified the losses which had occurred,, and' exaggerated tho condition of the troops. It was difficult to resist such pressure. Fortunately I was able to do so. Whatever be thought or said as to General French's strategic conduct of the campaign, there can be 110 two opinions' as to ( the immense value of his clamant insistence upon tho urgent necessity for increasing tho supply of ammunition. As to the stupendous danger which at one time threatened tho Allies through the shortage o'f shells this book affords tile most detailed and convincing testimony. In this connection the author s enthusiastic tribute to Mr. Lloyd George's splendid promptitude and boundless energy in repairing tlie deficiency arid enabling the. British to meet the enemy's gunners on less unequal terms is of high historical value. The narrative, contains many, effective little verbal vignettes of tho more important events of (lie period dealt with. GeneronS' tribute is paid to the splendid fighting qualities of our French" allies, and full justice is done to tho excellence of tho British Territorials, in which connection Viscount French pays -a hich compliment to Viscount Halclane. The book will stand as a most important contribution to tho history of the greatest war of ull lime, and as 'such should be found in every public and private library worlli the linme.

Thorn is a brief reference to Wellington in Somerset Jlnugliiini's striking story "The Moon nnd Sixpence," in which tho -English novclMst lias clearly utilised' t.lio sail and not a litif.o (lisgnstin? lifo story of the eccentric French "'Post Impressionist" Clmide Ginigui". who livrd .for piiii'o years., in Tahiti. Mr. Maugham pen<l3 th« narrator of his stnry to 'the I'lir-Hici Tsl'nnd, via. New Zealand, Tie says: "AVolliiigton is trim and neat and English; it reminds you of a seaport town 01) the Sou tli Coast."

Give a man a pipe he can smoke, Give a man a book he can read; And hit home it bright with a calm delight Though the room be poor indeed.

•—JAMSS THOHSOH.

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK A Life-long Friend of R.L.Si . There recently passed away in a London nursing homo, at the age of 7G, ono of liobert i Louis Stevenson's most intimate and trusted friends. This was Mr. Charles Baxter, writer to tho "Signet," who for many years acted as E.L.S.'s business representative. It was Bnxter who conceived and carried out tho publication of the famous "L'dinburgh" edition of Stevenson's work in twenty-five volumes, published at 12-.. a volume—an edition which, with the three supplementary volumes of "Letters," brings nowadays anything between .£6O and i£Bo. Baxter was a fellow-schoolboy with Stevenson at the old Edinburgh Acadeniy, where that eccentric but lovable* man, D'Arcy Thompson (whoso "Day Dreams of a Schoolmaster" is such a delightful book) instructed .R.L.S. "in the humanities." Thompson was also, for a time, Andrew Lang's schoolmastor. la Lang's "Adventures in Books" occurs the following tribute lo the genial old pedagogue-.— "One can never eay how much, one owes t.o a schoolmaster, who <vas. a friend of literature, who kept a. hmißeful of hooks, and who was himself a. graceful scholar, and an author, when ho ohoso to write, of poetic and humorous geuius. Such was tho author of 'The Bay Dream of a Schoolmaster,' ... to hom, In this place, X am glad to confess my gratitude "ftcr all these many years;" But to return to Baxter (discursiveness is my, besetting sin!): lie was a bosom friend and close companion of R.L.S. in those early Edinburgh days, when, to the horror of his, stni.cl parents, the future novelist was wont to explore the underwork! of "Auld Reekie.'.' In an autobiographical fragment, which Stevenson wrote when lying on a sick bed in California, and a portion of which is published in Graham Balfour's '(Life," the.novelist declares:— . "I have nt'ver ltnoivn one of so mingled a strain as he (Baxter). As- a companion, when in spirits,- 'he stands without an -equal''in my experience.- He was.the only man I ever heard of who could give and •take in conversation, with the wit and polish of Style that, we find in Oongreve's eoraodles. He.is likewise tho only person I ever knew who could advise, or to explain . more pcrfsctly my meaning, who oould botti make helpful suggestions and at. the same time hold his tonguo wlion lie had none to offer." Baxter was a fellow-member with Stevenson of tlio Edinburgh Speculative Society. It. was to Baxter' the.t JI.L.S. dedicated: "Kidnapped" and "Catriona," and in s[ieliael Finsbury in "The Wrong Box" he'drew a satiric portrait of his old friend. Bajter was also, it may ihere ■be noted by those who know tha.t grim but powerful story. "The; Master of Balb'ltrae," the Mr. Johnstone'Thomson, W.S., of the introduction to that novel. As I have said, JSaxtor engineered the "Edinburgh" edition of Stevenson's works, of which, alas, five novflist only received the first volume before his death. Baxter was actually .'on his ivnv out to Samoa to visit the friend of hi? youth when Stevenson died. 'Front Samoa he took •back to Edinburgh! (it now.'hangs in the rooms of the SnpjuMh'e Society—"The Sper,. ; ,". as B.L.S. called it) the. Union .Jade- which.'shrouded the novelist's remains on the lonely W-ton behind Vailima. In .'lnter, years, Baxter, who, like liis father before him. was greatly re,snectcd in -Edinburgh, lived in Italy, nt Siena-, whence, when tbo war broke out, ho returned to Scotland, end afterwards engaged .in war work at .Liverpool. He now lies with, his fathers in tho old .Dean X'cpietery ,in Edinburgh.. Stray Leaves, Tho weird but undoubtedly powerful stories of that ccoentiic Frenchman of the early nineteont'h-centiiry period. Barbier D'Aurevillv. seem to be having a new vogue with American readers—in translations, of course. D'Aursyilly was a favourite of Robert Louis Stevenson, and 'Aiidrpw Lang in <ms of his essays, I forget .which,, speaks'highly of "Los Diaboliqu.e's." D-'Atirevilly dealt very largely with tlio occult, and .'although his stylo is sometimes' very extravagant there 'is no denying the curious fascination whiclv some of his . work possesses. Edcrar Saltus, himself, a, very. clever writer, hns, I sna, translated D'AurevillyV'Man Without a Name" for an American, serifs known as "The Lotus Library." English versions of other stories are to follow. ' Tlioso lucky people : wlho own--ft-set of Mrs. Paget Toynbec'fi fine edition'of Walpole'S "Letters"- -will be interested to know ? that the Oxford, University' Press lias' just published two supplementary volumes, containing over a hundred hitherto ' unpublished letters by that agreeable Gossip, the "Lord of Strawberry Hill." i Those' who like -Wnlpolo's "Letters"—and a genuine Walpblian- can wax ;as enthusiastic over his likm? as can one who swears by "Pepys's Diary" as the Tvst "dipping book" ever written— cannot have too much .of their favourite's work, and no doubt the two new volumes will have a hearty welcome. Macaulay, I. know, was very severe on Walpolo because ho did not tako- life very seriously. But it takes all sorts of men to make up a world, and as a writer in the "Times' Literary Supplement" says':—"Walpjlo ,was not only the wittiest of men. but the most observant and the most kindly." Boswell's "Johnson," Pewys's "Diary," Lockhart's "Scott,". and- last, but assuredly not least, Walpole's "Letters", are all old favourites -of mine,, and with good editions of these four great works, nlus a regular supply of a certain blend nf tho "nicotian weede." "Liber" would not mind a year's exilo on some salubrious desert- island, whereon Bolshevism, "direct action," jarty politics, and tho cost of living problem are unknown, and where men live r,t least in peace, if in ignorance. Anatole France's latest hook, "Petit Pierre" is largely artobiograplhical. The old vein of ironical humour is tapped onco again, but according to French reviews of the book the new story is free from that rather acridly-expressed cynicism which found exposition in the famous Monsieur Borgeret series. An English translation is to be published by John Lane in due course. The ovc.r-increasing interest in psy-' chical research—the booksellers tell me that Sir Oliver Lodgo anil Conan Doyle's books on this subject are almost as in keen demand as works oh what tho Americans call "The Noo Thot"!—has culled for a populcir edition of F. W. Myers's famous book. "Human Personality mini Its Survival of Death." The new edition, to bo slightly abridged, is to have a biographical Bketch of tho au--lior.. The British Official Naval History. of the War ii being vritten by-Sir Jrtlian Corbett. Tho first volume,is to be published in London rvt the end of this month. .