BOOK REVIEWS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 16, 14 October 1942, Page 3

BOOK REVIEWS

A Sportsman Among The

Arabs

■ “Scattered Shots,” by C. S. Jiuwis, illustrated by Roly (London: Murray). Major Jarvis for thirteen years was Governor of Sinai and most of the chapters in this book have Arab territory as tiieir setting. The main topic is birds, chiefly game birds from the point of view of tlie sportsman. There are many good stories of shooting in the Nile Valley and in the deserts of Libya and Sinai, with, by way of contrast, a tale or Iwo with mi English background. .Major Jams, however, is not an indiscriminate .slaughterer with n record toll of birds as his chief aim. lie shoots lor the pot, and is always keen to preserve and increase tlie speck's. -Moreover, he is mi ornithologist; of good standing, having- had in Sinai rate opport unities for the study ot bird life, llis garden nt El Arish was the only place where loud and, water could be obtained on 150 miles of barren shore, mid to it came thousands ot migrant birds, about which lie writes with unfailing ehurni. Incidentally, he is equally us good when desetibing a fishing trip, rhe chief characteristic oi: Major Jarvis s writing being the humour to be found on every page. Though hardly’ as uproarious as the picture on the outside cover might suggest, tins is a book to keep one quietly amused throughout every chapter. There are few writers who Cjin be as informative ns Major Jarvis mid nt the smile time ns entertaining.

“The Art of War,” by Arthur Birnie (lamdon: Nelson). It may be debatable whether war is mi art or a science,,but Arthur Birnie has given the title "The Art of War” to his latest work. The best school for its study may be said to be the costly one of experience, and apart from that there is only one way military history. The author quotes Napoleon's famous dictum: "Rend and re-read the great campaigns of Hannibal mid Caesar, of Gustavus Adolphus mid Tureniie, of Prinee Eugene mid Frederick; this is lhe only way to capture the secret of the art of war.” This volume analyses strategy and tactics trom the days of tlie early Greeks to the outbreak of what the author calls the Petrol War in .1939. and with the aid of excellent maps some of the decisive battles of the world are subjected to criticism. Conditions have changed rapidly in the last two decades, but possibly’ the change is more in the tempo of (he campaign than in the tactics. Decisions now have to be made at once and action must follow, but knowledge is the key. “There is always a step from knowing to doing, but it is a step from ‘knowingand no"t one from ‘not knowing.'” “The Japanese Enemy,” by Hugh Byas (London: Hodder mid Stoughton). More than twenty years’ residence in Japan, coupled with acute powers of observation mid analysis, make Mr. Byas an authority well worth listening to. He is concerned in this small volume with an exposition of Japan’s power and vulnerability, explaining the peculiarities of the Japanese system of government, witn its army control, and stressing tlie text, “Despise not thine enemy.” His book also "examines' the plea of .economic necessity which in good faith has sometimes been made in extenuation of Japanese aggressiveness, mid it squeezes some.of the water out of the prospectus which has so often introduced Japan as a young nation driven wild by hardship mid injustice.” It is ml interesting study, compact and shrewd, particularly’ valuable for the way .in which it counters preconceived, irrationally-based ideas about Japan, mid shows how the Japanese really do aet and think.

“An Atlas-History of the Second Great War.” Volume Five, by J. F. Ilorrobin (Nelson: London). This handy series becomes more interesting as the world war develops and extends. . A compact war reference book.

“Perfect World Limited,” by A. Burgess (Melbourne: Bobertson and Mullens). This is mi autobiographical sketch by a Scot who tells of the highlights of his life from boyhood to middle age, 20 years of this period having been lived in China. The author divides his book into a narrative of his activities and a philosophic discussion of present-day problems.