BRITISH MEN-OF-WAR.*
THE letterpress of this volume has its own importance and the illustrations have their beauty. One must hope that these good qualities will not be two stools between which the book will undeservedly fall to the ground. The student of naval architecture may be distracted by Mr. Wyllie's delightful pictures, accurate though they are. The purchaser of an expensive, artistically illustrated volume may not care for the technical matters of displacement or Diesel engines. In his preface Mr. Jane says, "There are some things that cold print and the English language can not describe. These things must be sought for in Mr. Wyllie's pic- tures." And he tries strictly to leave the romance alone. He certainly avoids fine writing : such slipshod phrases as "most unique" or "Brest, which was being cruised off by Bridport," are inexcusably ugly and more trying than the printer's errors which have survived the proof-reading. But the reader cannot help being conscious of the romance permeating the facts concerned with the British Navy since the days of Xing Alfred. In this early history Mr. Jane sees proof of his theory that navies are not the natural weapons of island peoples, but of nations who want to attack islands. They are thrust upon islands as a necessary defence from raids. He allows Henry VIL his place as "founder of the Navy," though only from force of circumstances. He is chary of allowing prevision to rulers, but he pays his tribute to Cromwell as a great Imperialist. After details of the actions in the French wars, when the fleet was fighting any and every- where from Java to the St. Lawrence, the story becomes more severely technical. The schools of Phineas Pett's successors are taken in order. Of Sir Edward Reed, Sir Nathaniel Banaaby, Sir William White, and Sir Philip Watts it is evident that Sir William White has the highest place in Mr. Jane's estimation, but there is no condemnation of any public official, nor any advice for Mr. Tennyson d'Eyncourt The author leaves prophecy to those who are less well informed, and is content to point out that official opinion on questions of the size of ships and glans, the relative sacrifices of speed or • The British Battle Fleet. By F. T. Jane. Illustrated by W. L. Wyllie, B.A. London: Partridge and Co. [21e. net.) protection, advances and returns in cycles during peace time. Yet we must be prepared for possible revolutions, perhaps in the direction of submersible Dreadnoughts. Mr. Wyllie gives us twenty-five water-colour pictures, which are very well reproduced. There is fine artistic imagination and no doubt accurately studied detail in the earlier pictures of Slays, the 'Revenge,' the Armada, the ships of Blake and Van Tromp, followed by the peaceful scenes of to-day, such as the ' Victory ' and a Royal yacht lying in Portsmouth Harbour, or the realisation of the immense restrained force in 'Dreadnonghts anchoring.' There are also numerous photographs and diagrams and a good index.
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