Nelson's History of the War. By John Buchan. Vol. XXI.
(Nelson. 2s. ed. net.)—Colonel Buchan in his excellent history of the war has reached the eve of the offensive of last March. His account of Caporetto and its consequences is discreet and clear. He recalls Napoleon's campaign of 1797, and rightly denounces as fantastic the proposal, favoured in some high quarters in 1917, for transferring large forces. from the Western Front to Friuli and marching on Vienna. He points out that the First Battle of Cambrai at any rate helped Italy by diverting German divisions to Flanders. His chapter on "Political Reactions" in the winter of 1917.18 is judicious, as far as it goes, and deals faithfully with the Versailles Council. We cannot, however, interpret Mr. Lloyd George's notorious Paris speech as a plea " for a unified executive authority," which the speaker, as Colonel Buchan says, admitted to be impracticable. Nor is it accurate to say that the idea of a supreme commander was dieliked by the Allied Armies. Our own High Command objected to being ruled by a committee.
Previous page
