SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Notice in NU column does not necessarily preclude subsequent radar.] The Royal Regiment of Artillery at Le Coteau. By Major A. F. Becke. (Woolwich: Royal Artillery Institution. 7s. 6d.) —This is an excellent monograph on Sir H. Smith-Dorrien's masterly rearguard action at Le Catean, August 26th, 1914, written from the gunner's standpoint, and very fully illustrated with maps and plans. It ie based on war diaries and personal statements, and gives the most complete account that we have yet seen of the battle. Major Beeke disproves the suggestion that our Second Corps was "overwhelmed." The enemy envel- oped its extreme right flank, capturing a battalion and twenty- eeven guns, but he made little impression on the rest of the line and suffered very heavy losses from our artillery-fire. The Second Corps lost about eight thousand men out of fifty thousand and retired in good order, except along the Roman Road. General von Kluck's tactics were contemptible. But that must not detract from the fame of the Second Corps, which for eight hours under a murderous shell-fire held back an enemy four times as numerous and then, breaking off the action, made good its retreat. The enemy's assumption that the Second Corps had ceased to exist as a fighting force at Le Catcall was a mistake which cost him dear a fortnight later.
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