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BOOKS OF THE DAY

Tha Ne\v Zealandsrs at Gallipqli, They -went with songs to tho battle, they were young, Straight of limb, "(wo of eye, ateadyi snd aglow. They were staunch to the and against odds Uncounted, l'hey fell wjtii tlioir facea to the foe, Binyop, Thp initial volume of "The' Official History of New Zealand's ljffort ip t)io Great War" is to hand from Messrs. "Whitemnbo and Tombs (who have printed and aro publishing t|io"ivor]v for tho Government) in tho shape of a handsomely produced volume entitled "Tho New Zcalanders at Galllpoli." It is safo lo say that at six shillings this is. one of tho cheapest, if not tha cheapest, book ret issued in connection with tha warIt is printed throughout on platp paper, and'the excellence of ils typography and of the half-tono work in tho illustrations reflects high credit, upon tho publishers. Upon tho literary contents of the book tho author, Major Fred Waite, D.5.0., N.Z.E.. deserves hearty congratulation. Ha has given New Zea'-apd a skilfully planned, richly detailed, and most comprehensive account of the splendid feats of arms by which its sons won undying honour for their, country and themselves and rendered services to tha Empire the, full value of which, will some d<iy he estimated more adequately than they may be May. Tho Major, as befits a sol. dier aufhor, does not affect apy literary airs and graces. Ho neither gushes nor rants, his narrative is.clear and brisk and vividly picturesque, without any theatrical ovpr-eolouring. His narrative lives well up to its splendid motif. . The narrative piopor is prefaced by welcome '"forewords"! from Sir James Allen (a characteristically I>ri?f nnd modest, but eminently businesslike official statement as to the origin of the Wo!'k)i from General Sir lan Hamilton, and last, but not least, from that stauno!; admirer and equally staunch friend w the New Zealand soldier, General Sir William Birdwood. Sir lan Hamilton snakes a striking reference to the grim significance of New Zealand's losses during the war, After telling _ how he met, a few months ag°- LientcnantColonel Studholme "the last New Zenlander in Prance,' he says:— Ha was the last man of that superb band who were raised from a population of one million, and lost' fifteen thousand, whereas, to take other Etandardp, tho Belgians, justly famous iia bavins fought so long and BO valiantly for tlie freedom o? Europe, v lost thirteen thousand killed out of a population of seven millions. Both Generals pay tribute to the splendid qualities for leadership displayed by Colonels Bauchop nnd jilalono, both of .whom were fated never to return to the country whose cause they upheld so nobly and well. . Here, too, is lan ' Hamilton's opinion of General Kussell, now liappily amongst lis: Of'the New Zealanders whs survived, BubBell was beyond doubt the 1 outstanding personality on tlio Peninsula. Steady a3 a rock, with a clear head and a firm character, he belongs to tint typo ol soldier who will shoulder responsibility and never leave either his men or bis commander in the lurch. To come now x to the history proper. Major Waite gives a well-connected narrative of the concentration W the Exneditionary Force, the voyage to Egynt, tho training period in the Land of the Pharaohs, the defence of the Suez Canal, and the rendezvous at Mudros, and finally tho historic landing at Anzac, The author himself went nshoro in ©no of tho first lot of -boats, and was an eye-witness of events never to be forgotten whilst the English language exists. The temptation to quote crops np in every clinpter of. the book. Here it is specially insistent. I ! must content myself with one all too brief tract;— . . . Shells plopped in tlio water a " Toun'd as tows Bet a course for the bop.cli. Boat after boat of wounded passed us going hack to tho transports they Sad left only a few hours berore.- They waved their blood-stained armc and phnpred y/itb feeble cheers: The encouragement was certainly welcome. We were now' wall ' within range. Rifle and snrapnel fire was whipping the water round tjio boats. About 3011 yards from tho shore the barges were cast loose, and each, with a. naval rating as coxswain, pulled.vigorously for. the beach. Casualties ivere frequent. As the boats grounded, the men tumbled out; many wcro hit in tho water and were drowned. A major, jumping from thebnws —tho water was about 2 feet deep-was hit in the lsnec. He fell into the' surf, but was hauled on board again, and tho picket boat tjwe'd liim back to the transport lie had jusC left, Tile survivors fell in and adjusted tjieir heavy ' equipment under tho protection of the sandy cliff. In Chapter VIII is given '4 stirring account of the splendid x«rk done by the New Zealand Eng'nPir? - Nt that famous point—the apex of the outer —Quinn's Post. "Holding Qninn's meant holding Anzac." and no labour was too great to'be expended on it. Major Waite tells'of .men in the bomb factory, having completdtl a long day's work, turning cheerfully to work again when it became known that "Quinn's. was short of bombs." "It was pathetic," lie writes, to see tlieso hard-swearing Australian and New Zealand sappers nodding their heads and dropping off to sleep '.yitlj a detonator in one hand and a pi.ecc of fuse in the other, only to wako with 1 a start, and, in tho small hours of the morning, carry the product of their, toil up to their beloved Quinn's—a journey of ovor a mile in tha dark—with a. box of high explosives. As to tlio specially fipo work put in by the minors and tunuellovs who, when it was feared that tha oiiomy would commer.co mining tlio hillsido in Mopash Gully, stuck at their job night and day till a counter-mining system was established, Major Waite writes: All througli tho colonial armies wcrq miners ami tiiniicUors. Those men—from Broken Ilill, Coolgardio, Waihi, Westport, and othdr places where coal and gold aro won—were formed into companies niulor espericnced officers, and in a largo measure tho strenuous labours of tl(cse improvised unit,s at Courtney's, Quinn's and I'opo's saved Anzac to the British, Kight through, 'he twenty-four hours the minprs sweated at the tunnel-face interest, ed in only one tiling: how far the man just relieved had driven in his last shift. Thcro was no talk of limiting tho output or of striking In Anzooi for hero there was a great coimnunitv ol' interest—each one was prepared to labour, and, if needs bo, to sacrifico nimsclf in the interests of tho common weal, Thero was no "go slow" at Anzac 1 To follow Major Waito's iiarrativo in detail is impossible in the space at my command. He tolls) in turn of tho great Battle of Ki'ithia, (he coming of the Mounteds, and the sufferings of the forces during Hie midsummer heat, tlio chronicle steadily progressing till it reaches tho Battlo of.Jwri Bail- and Kaiajek •Aghajs. _ Two chapters are devoted 1.0 a description of the careful preparations mado for tlio evacuation, and of thai splendidly-planned and brilliantly sue-ccs.-i'ul operation-. It was with curiously mixed feeling? that tho men who hail fought so bare and gallantly on the rocky gully s'de; of t.lie Peninsula contempla'tcil tho cvnc nation. Officer? who knew tho state of affair: were greatly relieved at the decision, bul sick at heart now that tho blow had fallen To give up Anzac and all that it meant. To leave tho place where our brother: and friends wcro lying I Out there in N< Man's Land graves were marked vheri men had fallen, but no cross had beet erected, and now tho ehanco waß sllppin; away. crept out at night to paj their last visits to tliosoi lonely graves One soldier writing homo voiced the un disguised emotion of many;— "My goodness, Mother, how it did go ti our ucmms—lifter nit v.-.> had thronir! —how wo had slaved and fought—fough and slaved again—and then lo think tha wo had been sizzled in the heat, torturei by "1 and 'hirst, and later nearly froze] to death. It was hard to bo told wo mus give it up. But it waß not our wastei i'iiiti'v "ii'l.fwc't that really grieved u: , In our hearts it was to know we wer leaving our dead comrados behind. Tha was what evory man had in bis mini)

We thought, too, of you people in Ken Zealand and what yoq" might think cf us Believe me, it is fur harder to ojip's courage up for running .-.way than H is lo screw it up for an attack In tho fiiiaj chapter tho author describes Ihe return to Anzac of tiip New flealiind t'prcos— represented on this oeca- ( eiop by tlio Cnnteilniry Mounted liillps— • r v..o 1 fir | tlio start-here I hey aro as tho victors at the .pnd. >v Tlio full significance or that nqw famous word "/Viij'.ac' is very happi'tv and clofiupptiy set forth in tho final sentences! of a 'book evpry lwgo •]' wlueh shouid ha road bv iNew /,0a and, pi-.i ivitli prido-atid granttidMo thoso who first made such a record possiblfiiAnd if Apfac means suffering, a hoppless longing, aching bcaris, iir.d !V kee fienee of loea to Diatiy iu tljib mud Qf miv'i it:: M\e miuep «it Qiunn u Vost not tuyeat ft. the tunncl-fftce in tho inturesta of fiCli. the initios ot tnu n-nrt y)0 pien of tlic trawlors were net \\'orKn)g toy (iiviilon4s» tho MiifHe.i on tho£Q nospil.ft') ships djrt not toft the long nights thppusJiJ for praipo or no! ( ftnfity; the \vomen \yiiQ waited go bntydy and patiently Ot hpiiio in hourly dread o! tho telegraph boy, Uiougiu nothing of thftiUaHlViM—one nnd all mado their T-'illing sacrifices for tho common good. And that is tjio raessiige of Aijzao'to t&e people.-of New Zealand: I'lace the interests of the community be: the interestfl of self, follow in tjio of the early pioneer, and mU Now fleulaod a sweeter placo for the littlp children. The appondiots contain much interesting and valuable information. l'U-st comes a list of tho 3?ew Zealand trans-, ports of the llain Body, next n list ot the vessels which conveyed the New Zear land and Australian Division from Alexandria to Gallinoli ill April, 1015. . Detailed statistics are given of the estaii. lishment of tlio -Main Body, ot the new units raised durint; tlio (jallipoli e«nipaiirn and of the additional units formed by tlio N.Z.E.I'. (Egypt). Preceded by a photograph of the stplf tuul senior Qni'ii n>' N'.Z. and A. Division (taken in Egypt .in 1914) and a brief but eloquent {..! t] ih)v t.. ti|p "Jlen of An?.nc ts a list Of Nev-Zealanders "decorated and mentioned ip ifopafchps," Two other very useful features aro an article pn the Matties of Auza-s" nnd "A Ciallipoli • Viiarv " e. cliromilogv compiled .<*> that, as tho editor says, ''the bearing of all the' multifarious happenings-pava!, military, and political—may be seen in their proper setting in regard 1 to the campaign," . . i. Tlie illustrations, of wlueh, m view of the modest price of tho volume, there are nn astonishingly large number, call for special commendation. It is safe to say that in no sinslcTVolnme history ot anv campaign of tho war has thorp Men snob a wealth of excel/cut illustrations. Many of them are fulbpage plates, otlfc ers are inserted in the tc-xt, ami having been specially chosen for their direct re? ferenco to the events dealt >vjth, greatly enhance "the general interest and value of tho narrative. For the most part tliey nre from photographs taken by actual combatants and reflect every period, phase, and more important incident'in the campaign. There nre also many portraits of leading o3'ccts, P]J b ' li3her3 deserve a compliment for tlie clearness of the half-tone printing, especially in view of the tact that many of tho originals were the jivork of amateur photographers, opd were developed in spare moments at the ol them,'l believe, actually in the trenches. In addition to the illustrations, the booki contains a series of exceedingly useful diagrams, showing the .routes taken bv different sections of the forces and. the" positions of the main trenches, onr- own..'nnd those?-of the r nemy. A troncli diagram, oil a large folded sheet, placed at t]ie end of ihe volume, i\ ill also be found most useful in studying the detai's given of the various battlea nnd the course of the campaign genorMajor "Waite's bcolt. >vhicb will, I trust and expect, find its way into thouNew Zealand homes withinit lie ne?:t few weeks, is to be followed by three othnr ol tlie Onicitu torv. The volumo next to appear \yul deal'with' t)>n of "The New Zealanders iu IVance," after which, m due course, will enmej. yolumo entitled "The New Zealanders in Palestine. Ihe final instalment of what, whtrt pomp)ete, will be a comprehensive account nt tne part played by the Doniinion m the war, will deal with "The Var EUort ot Zealand." The publishers announce that over fifty tons of fine plate paper ivill reqi|ired for tho vhoje series.

LIBER'S NOTE BOOK A New G, J. Dennis Pook. A new book of poems C. J, Dennis, author of "The- SentimepW : Bloke," "The Moods ot Gtnger.Mick, etc., is ahviiys welcome, j.ii Jin^ tlio Hills" (Angus and Robertson, per Whitcpmbe and Tombs) Mr. ' takes "us far away from the bu»y cit scenes, wherein figured the Blokt and ■ thfe delightful Doreci). His new hero, Lonely Jim, i "the bloke th.at don t say much," is a hawy sawmill hand, who 'lives up in the Victorian bill and has (\rrived nt tlio tljuty? "Lonely .Tim" is for a whilo a victim of the bold black eyes of a comely widow' "down at the stgre. but afto fighting and over a local rival, tho redoubtalilo Ben Muryny, be«his to question whether, after all, tho widow is tlirt port of wife lie wants, icr \ H is as thrifty as he ,1s lniluptrious. It has not been his habit to go tRY at times an' throw around tho cash, . and so ho hesitates: _ Me an' inv old dog'B hocii talkin' quito a lot—of love an' things; . . . Weighin' matters; an wo reckon this licro love is full of stings. • . Love an' alt that talk, we reckon, is a silly so)'t of J'akc; . ~ Wliat'a plain myn watitin further if his wife can wash an* baku. The 'ime conic?,' lioweycr. when Jim considerably modiiies his matnmonial point of view, for visitors arrive at the mill, and amongst others a girl with "eunlit hair": I wng workin' at tlio rip-Baw, cursin at my acliln' back, Wlum 1 saw the blessed vision eomin down the log-yard track; There were others in ,tho party, but tno , ono that trot my etaro Was Iter with two brown, laugliin eyea an' sunlight in her hair. "More visitors!" growled old man Tike. "Another city misli; I'll bet a oiiid they ask us why wo spoli the lovely bush." , . I hardly heard him flaying it, for like a fool I stand, . . ■ My eyes full of tlio vision an a batten in my hann, "You gono to Blecr,;" the sawyer said. "What's got you mesmerised?' I start to work like fury, but my thoughts can't lie disguised. "Oh, Jim's gone ilippy with the Spring," I replies old Pike, ai'.d grins; I turn to answer dignified, hut trip an' hark my shins. Next thing 1 know the boB3 is there, an' taikin' Ifne an' good, Kxplainin 1 to the visitors liow trees nro made of wood. They murmur things like "Marvcliousl" an' "What a monster tree I" An' then (lie ono wil-h sunlit hair comcs right bang to me. Henceforth, "l/jiwlv Jim" becomes tho widow "down at the store," but after willing slave cf the young lady with tho <-'iolit hair; 'i'hat finished me. I lost what littlo ! nerve I had, an' grew ■ Dead certain tli.it I looked a foot, an' i that sho thought so, too; filio talked some msre, ■ hut I can't toll what other things she said. I went all cold, except my ears, an' tlioy were bii'iln' red. The romance nf "Lonely ,Tim" and the girl with "sunlit hair" ends as it should do. the widow being clevorly disposed of by an artfully-conlrived ynra I about lost savings, impending bankruptcy, and so forth. It is a vert lirclty story that Mr. Dennis tells. Tlio heroine may not have the delightful naivvte of our o!d friend Dorccn, but she is os sensible as she is bonny, and

though liQt, I should Fay, content lo be a 111 ore "washer unil bnker," will make the honest, simple-hearted Jim a very Rood wife. There is a line appreciation of the natural beauties of the bush in some of Iheso versos, and, too, some excellent sables qf that shrewd,' homely philosophy which Air. Dennis can make his filwrjictora expound so pleasantly. "Jim of the Hills" should share tho popularity gf its author's earlier productions, Gleanings from Ai/stralasian Vsrse. ''Poems of Manhood t Gathered by Mury I'l. 1 is the title of a Ifojlrfiilitcfl anthology published by Messrs. WJ|iteonibo and Tombs (Jleiboiirno apd Wellington). The volumo is tho first of a series of anthologies el|r tilled "Gleanings from Australasian Voi'se." Oilier volumes are also announced as being jn preparalion. Jli'ss Wilkinson lias wisely drawn more upon tho yopger and loss known writers than Australasian pocta of the older many of whoso most notable poc-iltfl already figure in inoro I linn one previously published collection n'f this kind. Oji 11)0 whole the editorial choice seems lo have been based upon a sound cnnipre? hension of true poetic merit. A few tnvnuritos may be missing, but it jias been tl]e fa I o of all anthology eonipjlers, from Palsrave, in 'his famous "Golden Treasury," down to fiir A, T, Quijlep Couch 111 his dejighlfill "Oxford Hook of English Verse"—|o Liber's mind the best of all anthologies of English vorec*to ho adjudged. wanting in appreciation pf certain poets, and Jfiss Wilkinson's most noticeable omissions may after all be due as much to copyright difficulties as to any lack of literary judgment. Amongst the New Zealand poets—or versifiers —hero rpprcsenled are Marv Colborpp Veol, Jessie Jtackay, Hartlel't Adnmson, Bo,yep ftnwdon—Hie (wo latter well known in Wellington—W. 11. Joyca, Keaforth Mackenzie, C. Allen Jfarris, and Alan E- Jlulj-mii. Amongst ' tho Australians I notice tho names of Henry Kendall. W. Le Guy Brereton, E. j. Brady, J. Lnwreiice llentoul—all four Scarcely, by tin's time, Iq \>q accounted of the younger school of Australian poets—Mrs. Mary Gilmore, Mrs: M. Forrest, Until Bedford, John Neilson, Roderic Qujmi, Professor Archibald Strong, A. G. Sfephons, and many others, whose work is more or less well known to New Zealand readers. A fewpld favourites are included,'but for the mo.st part the yarious'writurs are represented by selections from, reaently published poems. The typography of tho book reflects high credit upon the printers, and tho neat but. artistic binding, in. brown siiede leather, should appeal to all who like ft "pretty book." " Succeeding volumes of tho scries, which should hecome very popnlar as it proceeds, will lie eagerly awaited by lovers of good verso which '3 presented in so attractive an outward garb. Stray Leaves, ' Th" November "Bookman" (Hodder and Stpughton) is largely devoted to the Ueonse buot centenary. George son contributes an arfiolo in which much interesting information js given as to tho early life of the Mary Ann Evans who wa- ; to boron?". under" (hp nom do pluino of George Eliot, so popular a ..ovelist, and .wr. Arthur Cqnipton Ricr kelts writes on "George Eliot and tlio 'Personal Equation." _ Mr. Eickatts holds that the. most distinctive quality in

Goorsjo Elint's fiction, just as it was her most distinctive trait as a woman, was "Ilie liro.nl catholicity of her sympathies." As to her personal kindness and the soundness ol tlie advice slit iviis always ready to give' to young wrilors Mr Kjclrells quote:/ some interjistniff slorios. George Sjiinl-i|tury writes on Swinburne's posthumous work, ''Contemporaries of Shakespeare" and Ihe ' lon. ,T. M. Robertson's now book "The Problem of Hamlet." The number contains many excellent illustrations, those accompanying t.he articles on George Eliot being exceptionally interesting. The Rev. W. S. Crockett, who has written so much on Scott—his "Scolt Country" and the "Seott Originals'' are fiujle notable in hand ,i Scott Jiiljlioyviiphv. An important feature will be a complete record of the Waverley manuscripts. Mr, Crocketf ivili also give an account of tlio foreign tranship tions of Scott. It is not everyone who llcnotvs 'thai, (hero are Chinos® and Japanese translations of some of Scott a novels, Horb?rl. Trench Iho poet-playwright, whose fine play. Napoleon," is now, I notice, published by tjio Oxford University ill. lialf-a-crown, is an Irish man from the South, a Fellow of All Souls. Oxjprd, and, like another poet, Matthew Arnold, was for many years at the Board (if Education. Mr. Huntingdon, the American gdithimun who purchiissd last week -it Sot he-' rj's famous auction rooms In London a. copy of Ihft first edition ''■! Shakespeare's "Venns and Adonis" and the "Rape of Luerece," is a Califomian railway magnate.' He has for many years past, been building up a library which, it is said, rivals in its costly rarities the fnmous collections of (lie late Pierpout; Morgan anil the young I'hiladelnltian, Harry Widener, wlio went down on the iTLfiited Tit.tnic. The Morgan library is now the property of ihe City of New York, and tlio Widener collection was left to Harvard University. The Huntingdon library is to bo left; to tho City of Los Angeles. Mr. Huntingdon corresponds with fellow-col-lectors all over, the world, awl is very geperous with his duplicates. He often buys ft library en bloc. Inlces nut what Ije.wapts, and gives the duplicates lo public libraries or private collectors. The world's record for n single li'.'ok '»>i been broken by his purchase, for .£15,008, of ihe Shakespearean treasure above mentioned. >Ir. Werner I.,wis announce? an Relish IrnnsbitVm of Pierre Loti's "Mndnmo Prune." It i> an account of Loti's second visit to Japan, and, in its way, a FPrpiol fp the famous "Mndnme Chrysnntheme." The b"ok is to be by Mortimer Menpes, whoso "colour book" on Japan had such a great, vogue when first published by Blacks a few years ago. One nf George Gissing's stories, "The Town Traveller," which, in its original edition, has .been out of print for many yr>nr;, is being renub'ished in Ne'son's E'gliteenpenny Serins (hnlf-,>crown here). A uniform complete edit'on nf Geonw Gipsing, at a reasona'blo price, would have a big sale. T wonder no publisher has tried such a venture. Ste.vensotiiaiia. flf which there i= already a big 'bulk, is to receive an addit'on in a volume entitled "A. Book of R.L.5.," by George E. Brown, whi> tells the story of Stevenson's books, friends, and travels. Methuens are the publishers.

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Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 78, 27 December 1919, Page 11

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3,799

BOOKS OF THE DAY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 78, 27 December 1919, Page 11

BOOKS OF THE DAY Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 78, 27 December 1919, Page 11

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