30 JANUARY 1926, Page 22

General William Mitchell's Winged Defense (Putnam's,'" 10s. (3d.), written before

he was court-martialled at Washington . for insubordination in publishing statements alleging that the United_ States was practically defenceless by air, is worth close reading, for it is written by a brave and clever man, who was destined—and perhaps is still destined—to occupy the *hest rank in his country's Air Force. It is an engrossing account of air power and its development, while the picture drawn by the gallant author of the United States as seen• from the air could only have been written by an airman. Earth-bound men have written volumes to describe, less accurately, scenes Mitchell summarizes in a sentence. This is a book everyone should read : if perchance the elderly reader knows nothing of flying and cares less, he may at least give a copy to some boy—or girl—whose adult life will coincide with the age of aerial navigation.