A BUNDLE OF WAR BOOKS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2523, 31 July 1915, Page 9

A BUNDLE OF WAR BOOKS

Men, Women, and War. Written in March last, Mr. Will Irwin's book, "Men, Women, and War" (Constable and Co.), describes the author's experiences as a war correspondent in Belgium and North-Eastern France during the earlier stages of the war. Mr. Irwin does not attempt any detailed description of the various, battles, but deals rather with'the effect-.of'the war. upon tho civilian population, and with .what may bo called tho, "psychological side of war. He pays an-eloquent attribute to the coolness and' gallantry of the British soldier. In' his concluding chapter, "The Splendid Story of \Ypres" (31st October), lie emphasises tho terrible cost of victory. The. British had merely held — technically—really, they had won tho .climacteric action in that long battle which must determine the fu„turo course of this war. Tho cost' of.it was no less-than the cost of> other .famous victories. One divi- . sion landed on the Belgian coast at a full strength of. 19,000. It had . only 3500 effectives when this campaign was done. Ono regiment went into that battle 1100 strong. It came out but 73. . . . Another regiment took 1350, men to the Western front. It had fewer than 300 after the battle of Ypres. Most of them, too, fell in this action of the 31st October. A famous cavalry brigade went into action 4500 strong. It came out decimated; for it had been holding off alone a whole army corps of 41,000! Later on, discussing tho battle, or series of battles, as. a whole, Mr. Irwin says:— "A fortnight more,' and the line from La Basseo to the sea had been locked as. thoroughly as the lino ' from Switzerland to La Bas'see, It had cost England l 50,000 men, out ' . of 120,000 engaged—a proportion of loss greater than any provious war had known. It had cost tho French and Eelgians 70,000. It probably cost tho Germans 375,000. That is . half a million. • Tho American Civil War has been called the most terrible in modern history. Li this ono long battle, however, Europe lost as many men as the North lost ,in tho whole Civil War. (Price, 3s. Gd.)

Italy and the War. From Mr. T, Fisher TJriwiii, London, comes a little book entitled "Documents .Relating to Uio Great War," selected and arranged by Giuseppe A. Andrulli, a well-known Italian publicist, with' ail introduction by Professor Guglielmo Ferrero, tho famous Italian historian, the translation from the Italian original having been done by Mr. Thomas Okey. Tlio various official statements of the Allied Governments Jiavjp bees liberally, drawn upon, an<^

no doubt the book, in the original, has been of no small value in educating tho Italian public on the real causes and issues of the war.' In its, English form, liowever, it seems a pity that the book includes 110 extract from the Italian State papers relating to t'he war. This, of course, is accounted for by the fact that-Italy had not entered the fray at the time the work was compiled. Later on, Mr. Unwin would do well to give us a brief compendium of Italy's official statements wliich preceded the final break with her old partner in the Triple Alliance. Such a. publication would Da of real and permanent value to all students.of the diplomatic side of tho war. (Price, Is. 3d.)

War Maps. From Messrs. S. and W. Mackay I have received a set of the "Daily Telegraph" War Maps, produced by Gcographia-, Ltd., London, under tho direction of Alexander Gross, F.R.G.S. The series include a. general war map of Europe, a large scalo map of tho fighting areas, a map of the naval fighting areas; a gazetteer war map of Western Europe, a war map of Eastern Europe, a map,of Egypt ana the Near East, and a map of the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, and Turkey. Soveral of the sheets includo inset maps of special areas. All are rich in. detail, and their accuracy is guaranteed. Nos. 5 and 7 of the maps, respectively of the Eastern front and the Dardanelles region, are specially valuable at the presont time to newspaper readers and students generally of tho war. (Price Is. 3d. each.)

Miscellaneous. In."The World War and 'After: [An Inquiry and a Forecast" (Morgan and Scott), Mr: Alfred E. Knight makes a thoughtful and earnest appeal for a greater reliance upon Divine power and mercy in connection with the war. Tho general tone is of extreme evangelicalism, and in his remarks upon what he considers the evil tendency of certain well-known British authors' writings Mr. Knight displays a distinct tendency to be narrow-minded. (Price 3s. 6d.) Messrs. Methuen have done well to issue a new and cheaper edition of Miss Annie Topharu's excellent book, "Memories of the Kaiser's Court," which, first published in' August, 1914, was so, widely quoted-. Tho fact that the book (extracts from which were published jin'this journal on its appearance) is free from •anything like deliberate scandalmongering or catchpenny sensationalism, makes it a work of almost historical value. In its new form the (book, of which no fewer than eight previous editions have been published, should reach a new and much enlarged circle of readers. (Price 35.) 1 •