The Art of War in Italy, 1191-1529. By F. L.
Taylor, M.C. (Cambridge University Press. 12s. 6d. net.)—This able and instructive essay throws new light on a famous series of cam- paigns, partly, we are sure, because the author's military experience has enabled him to interpret the contemporary evidence aright. He points out, for instance, that Charles VIII. was able to march through Italy as a conqueror, mainly because he had big guns which were more mobile and better handled than any which the Italians had seen before. The old-fashioned fortresses crumbled before them, as the Belgian forts crumbled before the German siege-guns in 1914. Soon, however, it was found that trenches were a better defence than stone walls and that a besieged garrison could make good use of heavy artillery. Mr. Taylor's accounts of such noted battles as Ravenna, Marignano, and Pavia are illuminating. The proper co-ordination of the three arms—infantry, cavalry, and artillery —was the secret alike of the French victory under Gaston de Foix at Ravenna and of the French defeat at Pavia, where
the Marquis of Peecara, leading the Imperialist army, applied the lesson that he had learnt from the enemy thirteen years before.
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