Information in War : its Acquisition and Transmission. By Colonel
George Armand Purse, C.B. (William Clowes and Sons.) —There is no standard English work on the subject of informa- tion in war, and Colonel Parse has hardly filled the gap. His volume is a compilation from foreign works, with a few additions of his own, but is much too diffuse. Those who really want knowledge on the subject will find far more information much more clearly, though, it must be admitted, hardly less dif- fusely given in Lewes " Tactique des Renseignements," which is a perfect storehouse of knowledge. A treatise on recon- naissance ought not to be laxly composed and verbose, but terse and well thought out ; above all, it should bring into bright relief the great leading principles. The foundation of being informed in war is to know what you want to find out. There are no secrets to the commander who means business. The leader of an army needs two aorta of information. He must be perfectly acquainted with the enemy's country, his resources, and his army. This is the affair of peacetime, and depends almost entirely upon the systematic collection and study of the literature and the period- ical press of the possible enemy's country. When war begins, the General needs to know what the enemy is doing. He depends upon spies, upon his own cavalry, and above all upon his own insight. A master of the game can see the opponent's hand in a way that is impossible to a poor player, and without the power of divination no organisation will be of much use. For the recon- noitring officer the important thing is not so much eyesight and pluck, though of course these are indispensable, as a strong grip of what it is that his General wants to know, and such a real knowledge of war as enables him to interpret rightly what he sees. These are matters which no treatise on recon- naissance can teach, but which come of themselves to the in- telligent man who is really devoted to his profession.
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