19 NOVEMBER 1898, Page 27

Through Battle to Promotion. By Walter Wood. (J. Bowden.) —This

is a smartly-written story, not unskilfully compounded of civil and military affairs. Captain Goddard is a soldier who is very keen after active service and distinction ; Goddard, sen., is a milionaire, who has managed to get into the House of Commons, but, finding himself somewhat out of place there, would like to be promoted to the Lords. These are the two ambitions, and Mr. Wood tells us, with no little power both of serious and humorous narrative, how they prosper. There is some smart fighting on the Afghan frontier, some curious intriguing in Downing Street, and, of course, some love-making. The ingredients of the composition are not, and indeed could not be, novel; but they are sufficiently well put together.