23 SEPTEMBER 1899, Page 22

The Armies of the World. By Charles S. Jerram. (Lawrence

and Bu]len. 3s. 6d.)—Mr. Jerram can hardly be serious when he suggests that the £15,000,000 annually spent in education might be devoted to a national army, "training the body and even the mind in some departments." But he is doubtless in earnest when he argues that the wars of the future will not be so terrible as we think, and that war generally is not so very bad. He then proceeds to give details of all the armies of the world. The total must be between three and four millions. The separate accounts are full of interest. There is, too, a map of military railways of great significance. As far as India is concerned, we have very much the better of Russia. Russia has no line nearer than Kushk. Our lines reach as far as Peshawur and Quetta.