Tins little book will be welcomed by reviewers wearied with
trying to be entirely fair to mediocre authors and at the same time to protect a trustful public. The present volume is, if possible, better than its predecessor, which told the story of the first two years of the war. It was, I think, Mr. J. F. Horrabin who first introduced us to potted atlases of world affairs, in which each country was represented on a very detailed and delightful diagram showing enough historical, economic and political facts to produce another Prisoner of Zenda, with a brief but comprehensive explanatory text. Mr. Stembridge's forty-eight diagrams are as clear as Mr. Horrabin's and even more informative, for they include not only every theatre of the war but many of its strategical aspects, involving communications and natural resources all over the world. The maps and narratives of " The Battle of the Atlantic " and of " Russia—The Summer Campaign, 1942 " are models of diagrammatic illustration and of concise and accurate statement, while the statistical pictures, such as "The Battle of Supplies " and " America's War Effort," convey a host of little- known facts through a variety of neat symbols. The diagrams of, for instance, the Russian and Japanese campaigns show that Mr.
Stembridge has studied every major- movement of the belligerents almost from day to day during the sixteen months which he covers ; indeed those of" the Japanese conquest of Burma are in themselves valuable lessons in strategy. Altogether a book for every man who wishes to discuss the war intelligently—and for every woman, too, whatever her figure, for it is slim and will cause no bulges in pockets.
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