Shorter Notices
THIS, the latest in an excellent series, is a very' disappointing pro- ► duction. The photographs are as good as usual, although they are so large that the book has become unwieldy ; it is the same size as The Battle of Egypt, and those of us who wish to preserve our copies find it difficult to plan house-room for such slender folios. The text, however, is dull and quite unworthy of its glorious theme. Perhaps the dullness is a reaction after the indiscretion of The Eighth Army, but a few indiscretions would have been pardoned had the story been told in a sufficiently lively manner. No mention is made of individuals and indeed very few of the higher commanders are named. Such actions as that of the Hampshires at Tebourba and the Coldstream Guards at Longstop Hill are not described, although good eye-witness accounts of them have recently been published. Indeed the author seems to have misconceived entirely the purpose of his booklet. He has given us detail which we shall later expect the Official Historian to give us at greater length and with more substantial authority, and he has failed to breathe life into his dry bones and show us the kind of men who won such a decisive victory over the Axis.
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