BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 179, 24 April 1920, Page 11

BOOKS AND AUTHORS.

(Bs Libkb.)

Give a man a pipe he can tmoJte, Give a man a book he can redd; l And hit home it bright with a calm delight Though the room be poor indeed.. 1 + James Thohsob.

BOOKS OF THE DAY

(The Dardanelles Campaign. The first authoritative and comprehensive survey of tho Dardanelles campaign la ombodicd in Major-General Sir G. B. Caldwell's boot,' "The Dardanelles,"' recently published by Constables (review copy through Australasian Publishing Company, • Sydney, per. Whitcombe and I'onibs). By Now Zealanders, tho Dardanelles adventure,' as 6ome have called the campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula, must always bo regarded as one of the most-..interesting phases of the Great •War. Genoral Caldwell .is not only a strategical expert and an experienced' soldier, but ho is also gifted with a .literary talent, which enables him to do frill justiee to hia subject. Ho emphasises the importanco of the Dardanelles campaign to all students of military strategy. He admits frankly enough that mistakes— such as tho dispersion of the forces between Anzac and Holies—were made, and that it' would have been wiser , to have ■eonoentrated and centred - tho whole, at- : tacking army north, of Gaba Tepe, -where '.there was ample beach room. . , . ' Perhaps the worst mistake was the .'underrating of .the fighting quality of the enemy. Says the author, on this point;

That the plan chosen failed for all practical 'purposes -was not ao much the .con- ■ sequence of. topographical conditions nor of the disposition of the enemy forces, nor of bad luck as it was the upshot of a factor that had. not been sufficiently .talien into account. This factor was the. Tare fighting dualities that the Osraanll soldier was to display in the campaign. The troops who had come so badly out of the struggle with tho Bulgara and Serbs and Greeks two years before turned out to be an extremely tough proposition. But if Sir I. Hamilton and his staff at the under-rated Ottoman -valour and grit, if. they assumed too readily that the opposition that -would be .offered by this soldiery would not be of the mqst whole-hearted type, tjiey -wore only following the lead of Governments which, in a happy-go-lucky: mood and confident that ' the enemy -would crumblo up before a show of bluff, had dispatched the expedition on a mission ofi which, they had failed to realise the danger, and for which suitable preparations had not been made by them in advance. '> , • ' .The volume, which forms part of the excellent "Campaigns and Their Lessons" series, contains several-. valuable maps, and constitutes'a peculiarly interesting and valuable addition to literature of the war. The Story of the Fifth Australian Division. :' . In a handsomely-produced volume, entitled "The Story of tho Fifth Australian Division" (Hodder and Stoughton), Captain A. D. Ellis, M.C., 29th Battalion ■A.1.1) 1 ., provides a richly-detailed record . of the gallant deeds of the Division in Egypt,- France, and Belgium. The volume has an introduction-from the pen of- Marshal Foch, the -great French ' commander, who pays enthusiastic testimony to the splendid fighting quality of the men from the Southern Seas,. and gratefully acknowledges the -value of . their services to his country, as he Eays "the Australian Divisions won for themselves a glory beyond dispute in tho decisive battles that secured our victory." Captain Ellis describes in detail the Division's. work in Egypt, and follows its history through the campaign in Northern France, the first Somme campaign, the Flanders campaign, and that second great campaign on the : Somme, for Australians made ever memorable by tho splendid achievements' of their men at Villors-Bretonncux,, . and against ~ .jeronne,; aid their ' equally glorious ; deeds on the Hindenburg'-lin'e.. The illustrations form a 'specially.' interesting feature of the boolc, including as they do portraits of the principal commanders and photographs of various -war scenes in .which the Fifth Division won special .fame. Reports from commanding officers nud other important documentary evidence as to' the valour of ,tho Fifth Division are given, in full, /and there are several excellent maps. A full list of the names honourably mentioned in dispatches and of special honours and decorations won. is given in the appendices, in which is also to be found a complete death roll.. It is to be hoped that sooner or later the story •of the New Zealand Division mil be set forth in a similarly detailed and eminently satisfactory, mannor. ' . "A Physician in France." Amongst the now quite numerous books in which tho medical side of the : Great War has been dealt with, MajorGeneral Sir Wilmot Herringham's book,. " "A Physician in France" (London: Edward Arnold)! must rank very high. "?h« author occupied the position of consulting physician at General Headquarters, and later on aoted in the same capacityto the Third Array from the first battle of Yptcs to tho end of -the war. He provides a comprehensive surrey of the general nork of the medical, dental and sanitary services, as he witnessed their daily and practical working, and gives -a clear and interesting account of, the: field and baso hospital organisation. Whilst admitting that in many details' the Army Medical Service was .severely handicapped at tho beginning ,of the ■. \>ar—and, on somo points, all through the war—by Ted tape stupidities and lack of. official foresight, he wields a. stout and sturdy lance in defence of the service against certain critics who refused ■to make fair allowance Tor the special difficulties -with which it had to contcnd. Specially interesting are tho chanters on enteric. ccrebro-spinal and trench fever. The author , says the "almost complete absence of rheumatic fever," a 'disease closely associated in tho public mind with cold and damp, "was very remarkable." As to what is cnllfid trcnoh fever it. was eventually combated with strik- . ing success as the result of a well-or-dered and energetic campaign against lice. Shell shock is the subject of an- : ■ other very interesting discussion. Cases of loss of speech could usually be cured ' by electricity or by an anaesthetic. In J many cases of loss of memory, hypnotism was profitably substituted for an&es-1 thesia. '

Poison gas and its ill effonts is also dealt with at some length. Tlio use of this scientific, abomination by tho enemy had a psych olopriral effect which tho Hun had probably failed to anticipate, for. the author says it exasperated' our soldiers, who foil flit moir fiercely and taoro mercilessly afterwards. English soldiers arc root! nnturcd, and, thousjh they do not mind fiphting, they bear little ill-will to their enemy. But trcftchery, as in tho abuse of -white flairs or tho Bed Cross, both of , which were practised by the Germans, crnelty to tho wounded, of which they had Rood evidence. -when, in tho . counter-attacks, wo returned to trenches wo hni lost, and methods which thev think unfair, such as the use of this noison cn.s, fill them with a fury vi'ich hodca ill for those with •whom thev fidit. There was little, complaint after thi' time of tho men bnine too familiar with tho nncmy opposed to them. Of tho studied villainy of th» Huns, tho author trives several examples. Af- . (er mentioning "delayed mines," which "did not RO off for a Vholo month." nnd the laying of death trans even in the latrines, lie tells of a peculiarly horrible instance whor* n corpse_ left in tho operating theatre of a hospital, "exploded' when our orderlies tried to tako it away for burial.'' ' The volume contains a number of excellent illustrations. Leagues of Nations. In view of the great interest which is taken in the League of Nations scheme, a volume, entitled "Leagues of Nations, Ancient, Medieval, and Jlociern," by Elizabeth York (London: Tho Swarthmoro Press), is of n timely and special importance. The author shows, by reference, to Greek history, that tho Lenguo of Nations iden "-is one of great antiquity. An interesting chaptor on Dante's "De Monarchia" is followed by an exposition of the "Great Design" of Henry the' Fourth Henry of Navarre), who was not only yaoblo and galkusk commander in the

field, but also a statesman of consummate ability. In succeeding chapters the author deals with the arbitration plan of Grotins, tho great Dutchman; William: Penn's proposal for a European Diet; Saint Pierre's, project of "Perpetual .Peace"; Eousseaus "European Federation"; ICant's ' "Everlasting Peace"; and Bentham's "International Tribunal," in nearly all of which lay the germs of the League of Nations < idea as we know it to-day. In her final chapter Miss York discusses Alexander the First's so-called "Holy Alliance.". The various essays are enriched by special references to State documents, and the work as a whole is possessed of a distinct value for the student of political history, as well ns affording a very interesting historical survey for tho general reader. The University -of 'Otago. Otago has good reason to bo proud of. its university, the iubileo of which was recently celebrated, and it was a specially happy thought to commemorate the jubilee by the issue of such nn interesting, and, as a contribution, to the history of education in New Zealand, such a valuable record as that • to be found in Mr. G. E. Thompson's volume, "A History of tho University of Otago" (Dunedin: Wilkio and Co.). Mr. Thompson deserves well of his university and of the people of Otago for the manner jin which ho has fulfilled his onerous and honourable task. Ho gives a full account of tho antecedents of tho uni■vorsity, its foundation in 18G9, the establishment of tho various faculties <uid tho general history of the progress and expansion of university work at Duncdii since that date. Incidentally ho throws 6ome new and much interesting light upon tho steady growth and popularity of tho university idea in Otago, and his descriptions of the ftmnding and development of subsidiary enterprises, such as tho medical schools, tho dental school, and the more recently established Chairs of Domestic Science and Commerce, are also to be coinmended. A special feature of tho book is its wealth of illustrations. These include reproductions of photographs •of past and present members of the council and professorial . staff, views of the University buildings at various dates, and groups of past and present students. Stray Leaves. Mr. E. V. Lucas, whose stories and essays are -always so entertaining, is visiting Japan, returning to England by way of India. An exceptionally interesting travel book should oe one outcome of the trip. In Methuen's Spring List, India, tho announcement is fflado of a 'new' novel by this very popular writer. Tho title is "Verena in tho Midst: A Kind of a Story." Like "The Vermilion Box" and that firsthand as so_mo of -us think, best of Mr. Lucas's stories, "Listener's Luro," it is told in letters passing between the principal characters. Joseph Con Tad's new story "Tho liesone: The Romance of a Disinterested Adventurer," is announced in Messrs. Dent's list. • Tho story appeared last year ns a serial in "Land and 'Water." The samo publishers have added ConPad's novel, "The Shadow Line," to their "Wayfarer's Library." American collectors of books and manuscripts b.v famous authors continue to' give high prices for raretics. At a book auction held at Philadelphia, on January 1G tho original mes. of Charles Lamb's "Dessertation upon Boast Pig"' brought no less than ,£2520. And yet .it .comprised but five folio pages. Lamb got' hve guineas for the article, which first appeared as ouo of the Elia essays in . tho "London" magazine. Harold Begbio seem? to have constituted himself the spccial biographer of celebrities in the religious and philanthropic . world. His forthcoming "Li-'e of William Booth, Founder of the Solvation -Army" should mako special appeal to a very large public. Some people may' find Mr. Begbio a trifle too gnsliful, but his works on social and religious reform questions havo enjoyed widespread popularity. BOOK ADVTS. ON PAGE 2.