1 MAY 1926, Page 29

1944. By the Earl of Halsbury. (Thornton Butterworth. 7s. 6d.

net.)—This is one of the numerous books published recently which are intended to convey a warning as to the need of preparing for the next world war. The catastrophe in 1944 is so devastating and extensive that the reader is tempted to despair of its being averted by any measures which could be taken by a single country. Do the novelists who provide these sensational stories advocate immense arma- ments and the establishment of the British Empire on a twe-,--nr- even- three, Power basis at sea and in the air ? If this type of novel is intended to convey a serious warning, some solution of the problem should be suggested. If not, such .fiction seems unnecessarily provocative.