19 JANUARY 1901, Page 24

The Tactics of To - Day. By Major E. Callwell, RA. (W.

Blackwood and Sons. 2s. 6d )---•‘ Written while advancing with the Natal Field Force from Laing's Nek to the Lydenburg district," is Major Callwell's account of the genesis of his book. Nothing, therefore, could be more up-to-date. And, indeed, all the peculiarities of the present campaign, smokeless powder, invisible uniforms, and the rest, are here discussed. Our author has much to say of which we do not pretend to judge, but we recognise amidst the necessary technicalities of his subject a general recognition of human facts—e.g., the unconquerable tendency of men in the critical moment of a charge to mass together—that inspires us with confidence in what he says.