A QUALIFIED EASTERNER
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Rush of .work has delayed my intention of making a gentle protest against a label affixed•to me in a review of my War in Outline, which otherwise I greatly appreciated.. The label was contained in an aside—” it is always well to remember that the writer is an Easterner." On the contrary I was a " Westerner " at the time when the 3e issues were being debated and the labels were current. It was only under pressure of facts subsequently discovered in historical study that I modified my view. But even now I do not share the true " Easterner " view—that the War could have _been won in the East instead of in. the West. My, present view lies between the two schools ; it is, that the Eastern theatres Offered scope for the distraction which was necessary for any concentration in the West to be effective, and that a decision in the West against Germany depended on the adequate " preparation " of that decision by action against Germany's weaker allies.-L-Yours truly,
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