Privateers and Privateering. By Commander E. P. Statham, R.N. (Hutchinson
and Co. 7s. 6d. net.)—Privateering is a subject interesting for its past, and quite possibly for its future. Who knows what may happen in the next war ? International law is in a very fluid condition, and a belligerent with a large sea-borne commerce would be a very tempting object. Commander Statham tells again briefly some famous stories of privateering enter- prise ; perhaps these have been always a little highly coloured. And he gives us interesting biographies of eminent followers of the craft, such men as George Walker, Fortunatus Wright, and Woods Rogers. He deals with his subject in sailor fashion, but he is careful not to embarrass the reader with technicalities, and he corrects some common errors. He reminds us, for instance, that the pirate and the privateer were not always identical ; he shows what fine seamen some of the latter class were. Some of the incidents related will probably be new to most readers. Good stories they are of heroic defences by merchantmen, and not less fierce combats between small privateers and men-of-war. Again and again we see how true is the aphorism, " It is the man behind the gun that counts." We have no rhetorical flourishes, but the truth, as far as it can be ascertained, simply told. The result is an eminently readable book.
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