SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent review.] We wish to call our readers' attention to an admirable presentation of Great Britain's case in the present war. Why We Are at War (Clarendon Press, 2s. net) discusses the events which have led up to war, from the point of view of trained historical investigators, who have had much practice in the weighing of evidence and the appreciation of diplomatic documents. It is a collaboration by six members of the Oxford Faculty of Modern History—Messrs. E. Barker, H. W. C. Davis, C. R. L. Fletcher, Arthur Flassall, L. G. Wickham Legg, and F. Morgan—who " have endeavoured to treat this subject historically," i.e., without patriotic bias Their conclusion is that " we fight in the noblest cause for which man can fight . . . the public law of Europe, as a sure shield and buckler of all nations," opposed to the naked Prussian doctrine that might is right. The German White Book, which gives the Prussian version of the origin of the war for American consumption, is printed in extenso as an appendix.—The same publishers issue an excellent leaflet on The Deeper Causes of the War, by Dr. W. Sanday (3d. net).
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