29 APRIL 1893, Page 10

The Captain of the Mary Rose.' By W. Laird Clowes.

• (Tower Publishing Co.)—This is a " tale of to-morrow,"—i.e., of the next naval war. We find ourselves suddenly at war with France. Our neighbours, better prepared for eventualities than we are, strike the first blow with astounding promptitude, and the Mediter-

ranean Fleet is practically destroyed. Disaster after disaster falls on the naval defences of England. How these reverses are redeemed, we must leave our readers to discover for themselves from Mr. Laird Clowes's pages. We need not say more than that the fighting is terrifically destructive—as, indeed, all probabilities and such experience as we have had would lead us to expect—and that it is described in an effective way, and with much verisimili- tude. A love-story is interwoven with the plot, but does not unnecessarily distract the attention.