LITERATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3247, 7 June 1916, Page 74

LITERATURE.

BOOK NOTICES. "From Mons to Ypres with French." By Frederic Coleman. London : Sampson Low, Marston, and Co. (Ltd.). (Cloth; 50 illustrations; 6s net.) On q pleasant August morning in 1914 Mr Frederic Coleman embarked on a troopship at Southampton. .lie was one of 25 members of the Koyal Automobile Club who had each volunteered to take his motor car and proceed at once to the General Headquarters of Sir John French's army. Their oiler had been accepted by the War Office, and they were sent to drive officers of the General Headquarters Staff at the front. The troopship reached Havre on Saturday, 22nd, and on the following morning the little band were on their way to the front. Mr Coleman is an American, but no thought of "neutrality" prevented his services being offered and accepted. One of the many respects in which the present war has changed all previous military ideas is the use ol motor transport, and to Mr Coleman and his companions were accorded exceptional advantages not only to help the British army, but to obtain such an extensive view of the actual lighting as is accorded to no other non-combatant. Even the daring war correspondents are obliged to wait for permission to move, and are often commanded to " get out of the way." The intelligent "chauffeur" and his car mustbe always on the spot, and generally in the danger zone. There are of necessity phases of the Avar of which it is very difficult indeed to acquire a complete understanding. This is especially the ease with regard to the crowded, fateful days when wc and our Allies were giving way before the invader, moving in such haste and over so broad a front that units became disconnected and scattered, and a retreat that was, in fact, admirably planned and controlled, had all the appearance of disorder and demoralisation. Official despatches have given us a formal account of the operation, excellent, but entirely lacking in the intimate, personal details which go to make a thrilling; and convincing narrative. The few correspondents who were caught up in the moving throng and hurried along with it have given us scraps of incident and anecdote that supply some of the local colour, but leave the broader facts untouched. It has been left to Mr Coleman to provide us with a full and graphic account, combining the qualities of both, of the retreat from Mons to the very neigbbomhood of Paris, and of the brilliant advance which followed it, the crossing of the Marne and the Aisne, and the splendid movement which cut the Germans off from Paris and from the Channel ports. Every word of this description tells. The grief, mystification, and simple obedience of the puzzled soldiers was only equalled by their joy and enthusiasm when the order was_ given to turn and face the enemy. Said Sir John French: "I call upon the British army in France to show now to the enemy its power, and to push on vigorously to the attack. The retreat was over, the advance began. We never doubted the outcome." Mr Coleman's account of the feeling of our troops and the excitement of the first battle makes the blood sing in the veins, and enables the arm-chair critic to realise a little of that " fascination of Avar" which has never yet died out of the human heart, and made the present writer run amazing risks in order to take the small part possible to a non-com-batant. During the retreat he was attached to Sir John French's headquarters, during the first part of the advance he Avas attached to the Second Cavalry Brigade, and during the lighting on the Lvs, at "Plug street," Messines, and Ypres and on the new front that was formed in Flanders he Avas attache.! to the First Cavalry Division. He went wherever the commanders wanted to go, and he saAV, with a very observant eye, everything that they saw. With such opportunities, and a gift for vivid expression, it was inevitable' that Mr Coleman should embody his experiences in a volume that should'show a complete realisation of the Avork done by our army during those first terrible months. He has done this in a way that is altogether satisfactory. W ithout any attempt at literary embellishment, he has written a simple, straightforward account of the events that passed under hh own notice, giving to the most trivialseeming details that touch of absolute convincing reality Avhich comes from a complete lack of "self-consciousness. The book is full of good stories, which Ave would gladly ouote did space permit. Most of these are marked by that cheerful, optimistic spirit which is so conspicuous a f.ature of our men, and causes the author to exclaim : " It was not that someone was wanted to cheer up the Tommies: it Avas that most of us needed the Tommies to cheer us up." The volume is illustrated Avith over 50 photos, many of them very good, also a small but clear map, and is° altogether the best book of the Avar that has yet come into our hands. " Tommy." By Jo:eph Hocking. London': Fodder and Stonghton. (Stiff paper, pictorial jacket; Is net.) In tlie preface Mr Joseph Hocking informs his readers that this interesting, topical tale, although its setting may be imaginary, is as regards its main incidents absolute fact. It is, indeed, a composite picture of that new type of Territorial hero, the Lancashire Tommv, just as Mr lan Hay's "Unit of the First Hundred Thousand" is a typical Highland Tommy. Mr Hocking's tale is the result of excellent second-hand experience, for he says: "Nearly every incident Avas told me by ' Tommy ' himself, whom T had met before be joined the army. Avium for more than six months T addressed recruiting meetings. I have often been with him in camps, and'spent many hours talking with him. ... I have visited him in France and Flanders. I have talked with him when great guns were booming, as well as during his hours of Avell-earned

rc : t when he was glad to crack a joke • \vi' a man wearin' a black coat.' " And because onlookers often see most of the gam?, the skilled story-teller has taken the most 'citing of these incidents —both | what he saw and what he heard—to weave the present volume, and denict the Lancashire Tommy in his cheerful, cheery, delightsome aspect—just a trifle more b ou h fill and possessing more initiative th .n the man Avho has spent years in a barrack and. become more or less of a machine, which the true Territorial audi frc Volunteer Avill never b>. Needless to say. the tale is avcll told, and shows an excellent knoAvledge of the general outlook, opinions, life, and temptations of the working-man civilian suddenly turned into a. soldier, who is naturally some time — especially if he be a "dour Northerner" — before he " finds himself," and takes a firm hold of his new job. "By Bloav and Kiss." By Royd Cable 'Lai 'on and New York: Hodder and Soughton. (Cloth, coloured jacket; ; Is net.) This is a fine tile of life in the bush. | full of action and adventure, Avliich Avill be rea 1 with pleasure by all who love a good rou-ing yarn of love and life in the wild part; of the world. '' Sixei and Sevens." By 0. Henry. London and Ncav York: Hodder and Stcugkt n. (Cloth, coloured jacket; Is net.) 0. Henry is one of the world's greatest s.'o y-i 11-v's. His work is delightful and unique. His tales are appreciated by p ople of both sexes and all ages. Some of them will surely be immortal. The av rid owe: a debt of gratitude to Messrs Hodder and Stonghton for including this series in their famous cheap " clothbound library."