SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Notice in this tannin does not nwssarily preclude subsequent revieul Scouting Thrills. By Captain G. B. McKean, V.C. (H. Mil. ford. lis. net.)—Though primarily written for boys, and especially for Boy Scouts, these exciting accounts of real adventures in No Man's Land on the Canadian front will certainly be read with interest by many grown-up people. Thousands of men in the war had " scouting thrills " when they were on patrol at night or were spying out the enemy lines in preparation for an attack. Fe v of those who actually did such work have been able to c'es nibe it so clearly and vividly as Captain McKean does in 1.1.:s fascinating book. The closing chapter illustrates the de moralization of the enemy after our capture of the " Wotan'' or " switch " line last summer. Scores of Germans and a heavy battery surrendered to the author, who had been wounded early in the day, and a handful of Canadian scouts.
Ruskin Centenary Addresses. Edited by J. H. Whitehouse, (Oxford University Press. 7s. 6d. net.)—This little book contains the addresses delivered on February 8th last at the meeting held by the Ruskin Centenary Council. Professor Mackail's address emphasizing the prophetic side of Ruskin's character, and Mr. Henry Wilson's on Ruskin's attitude towards art and his technical accomplishment, are of special interest.. Ruskin's well-known drawing of Abbeville and the portrait of him by George Richmond are reproduced as illustrations.
Every one knows, in a general way, of the excellent work done on a vast scale by the Young Men's Christian Association during the war. Particulars of one relatively small but most important branch of that work are given in two pamphlets issued by the Association—A Short Record of its educational work in France, and a Y.M.C.A. Universities Committee Report on similar work in Italy, the Mediterranean, the Near East, and among the interned soldiers in Holland. We have said that this branch was relatively small, but in itself i was a large and efficient organization of lecturers and teachers, providing rational entertainment and instruction for thousands of the troops. In France, for example, Sir Henry Hadow a year ago organized eight University Extension centres with staffs of expert teachers— most of them women—at different bases ; twelve thousand soldier students were attending classes when the fighting ceased,The Army scheme which came into operation in May is really built on the solid foundations laid by the Y.M.C.A. with the co-operation of the British Universities. It is interesting to hear of a Cambridge divine lecturing on early Church history to the British troops encamped near Troy, and of an historical lecturer at Mudros who visited the warships in turn. The value of this work is incalculable. in this country—well deserved to be printed. He urges British people to take some interest in modern Italy and her people, and not only in Dante and Italian art up to Michael Angelo, or possibly even to Canaletto and Guardi. We should not like foreigner who was enthusiastic for England up to the time of Johnson, Reynolds, and Burke, but no further. We may imagine, then, what Italians think of those British people who look on Italy as a large museum. They find us not simpatico, and are naturally irritated. Professor Okey, for his part, is intensely interested in modern Italy with her great industries and her keen intellectual life. As he says, Italian is not difficult to learn. Moreover, as the people still commonly use their own dialects, a foreigner may hope to speak the literary language almost as well as an educated Italian. It is devoutly to be hoped that Italian studies will become popular in this country, for we need a closer understanding with Italy.
The Swing in Golf. By A. Q. (A. and C. Black. 2s. 6d. net.) —We fear, from sad experience, that golf cannot be learned from books, but with that proviso we may commend this little treatise to beginners. The author's point is that the swing ought to be purely mechanical, and that the player should he thinking not of swinging but of hitting the ball. He describes clearly the swing as practised by a first-rate professional like Taylor or Vardon, and tells the beginner to keep his head, as well as his body from the waist downwards, as steady as possible. This is all true and sound advice. The difficulty is to apply it. However, the author says that in middle age he found out how to swing, so that other elderly men need not despair.
Science and War. By Lord Moulton. (Cambridge University Press. 2s. 6d. net.)—Lord Moulton's Rede Lecture contains a sketch of the various ways in which men of science came to the aid of the soldier in the war, and especially of the fine work done by British men of science, in wireless telegraphy, for instance, or sound-ranging, or the invention and perfecting of gas-masks. It is a remarkable story. If the same incentives and the same encouragement can be given to men of science in time of peace, Europe may recover from the war more quickly than the pessimists think.
A Grammar of New Testament Greek. By James Hope Moulton. Vol. II., Part I. (T. and T. Clark. 7s. net.)— When Professor Moulton died as the result of exposure in an open boat in the Mediterranean, after his steamer had been torpedoed without warning by a ' '-boat, it was feared that his invaluable Grammar, the first volume of which appeared in 1906, would remain unfinished. He had, however, written twothirds of the second volume, and Dr. Howard is editing and completing the work. The new volume is appearing in three parts. This, the first part, begins with a most instructive essay on New Testament Greek in the light of recent discussion. We may call attention to Professor Moulton's use of the recently discovered papyri to strengthen his arguments, and to his conviction that Hellenistic Greek, the lingua franca of the Roman Empire, was far better suited than either Hebrew and Aramaic or classical Greek to the purposes of the Apostles and Evangelists. Professor Moulton thought that in the first century of our era Greek was still the common speech of Galilee, though not of Judaea, and that Christ probably knew Greek, and possibly used it in relating the parable of the Prodigal Son. It is well to add that the general effect of the minute linguistic studies, in which Professor Moulton excelled, is to strengthen the conservative view of New Testament textual problems.
Yashka. By Maria Botchkareva. (Constable. 8s. Gd. net.)—Maria Botchkareva, more popularly known in Russia as "Yashka," founder of the ill-fated Women's Battalion of Death, unable from lack of education to write her experiences as peasant and soldier, related them to Mr. Isaac Don Levine, who has cast them in the form of an autobiography. The record of Yashka's earlier days makes depressing, almost repulsive, reading, with its sordid details and that atmosphere of brutality and misery which is characteristic of so many Russian writers. It is a relief to coma to the later portions of the book, describing the founding of the famous Battalion of Death, when at any rate inspiration has give some nobility to struggle. English readers will be most interested, we imagine, in the efforts of Yashka to awaken the Russian soldiery to the need for discipline, to her fight with Kerensky over the aucstion of committee rule in her Battalion. and the ' brave endeavours of that Battalion to hold together in face of opposition, ridicule, and persecution from the mass of peasants and soldiers. It is impossible not to admire the patriotism and courage of Yashka and her women followers, but it is amazing that such leaders as Kerensky, Rodzianko, and Kornilov should not have foreseen the futility of the enterprise. Yashka was enthusiastic for Allied intervention, and the end of the book leaves her starting for America and England to enlist help.
Through a Tent Door. By R. W. Mackenna, M.D., R.A.M.C. (John Murray. 8s. net.)—The tent of a doctor in the R.A.M.C.
somewhere in France " was a wonderful vantage-point for Dr. Mackenna's sympathetic observation of men and things. The papers in this book, most of them in essay form, are attractive reading. They deal with a wide variety of subjects—a patch of adventurous wild flowers that covered the hard-trodden ground outside the operating theatre with a blaze of colour; the "verbal pillage " made by an unabashed " Tommy " on the French language ; a thoughtful interpretation and appreciation of " the courage of our clerks," which, says Dr. Mackenna, has brought the Empire through four heroic years ; a peep over the shoulder of a censor of " Tommy's " letters. Of particular interest for many readers will be Dr. Mackenna's inquiry into the alleged " decay of religion." The blame, he holds, is largely with the Churches, who must rid themselves of all " unessential accretions," and combine in recognizing that they stand for `‘ the revelation ofGod to man in the person of Jesus Christ." But blame rests also on the public, who too often fail to recognize that religion is a necessary part of man's life. " What a great people we should become," says Dr. Mackenna, "if our religious aspirations were as genuine as our Imperial ambitions ! "
The Jews of the Empire and the Great War. By the Rev. Michael Adler. (Hodder and Stoughton. Id.)—We are glad to have read this interesting pamphlet by the senior Jewish Arniy chaplain, who himself gained the D.S.O. He is rightly proud of the part that British Jews played in the war. Ten thousand of them volunteered for active service, coming from all parts of the world. In Australia, for example, a Jewish population of 19,000 produced 1,800 volunteers, 250 of whom were killed. The Jews' Free School in the East End could number 1,200 of its old boys who had enlisted. The Jewish Lads' Brigade sent 80 out of its 90 officers into the Army. Mr. Adler estimates that the total Jewish population of the United Kingdom and the Dominions was about 420,000, and that 50,000 Jews served in His Majesty's Forces during the war. Of these, 2,324 were killed and 6,350 were wounded or missing. Five Jews won the Victoria Cross. Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, the commander of the Australian forces, is a Jew ; he was an engineer by profession, but he had served in the Australian Militia before the war, and commanded a battalion in Eggs„ pt in 1914. Mr. Adler says that the Spielmann family sent 41 officers to the front, and that the Beddington family had 37 members engaged. There were many Jews in the Sixtieth London Division at the taking of Jerusalem. Mr. Adler has done well to compile this brief record of the services of British Jews. When we condemn the evil deeds of Jewish Bolsheviks, we must always remember that these scoundrels are in no sense representatives of their race and religion.
Selected Essays of Plutarch. Vol. II. Translated with Introduction by A. 0. Prickard. (Clarendon Press. 3s. 6d. net.)— Montaigne said that he loved to dip into Plutarch like the Danaids, ever filling and emptying their pitchers. Many quiet readers who know less Greek than Montaigne will be glad to dip into Mr. Prickard's charming and scholarly translation of part of the Morals. The titles of the dialogues are surely attractive, such as " On the ' E ' at Delphi," " On the Cessation of the Oracles," or " On the Instances of Delay in Divine Punishment " —a question that has been much discussed in private during the war. These and others are real dialogues, reflecting the tone of educated society at the beginning of the second century of our era. We must be content to commend the volume. Mr. Prickard says that the leading Dutch authority on Plutarch, Professor Hartman of Leyden, thinks that Plutarch had never heard of Christianity. It is surely dangerous to infer this from the fact that he did not mention the new faith. has incorporated the numerous changes made by the consolidating Act of last year and by the new Finance Act. He devotes an appendix to the Excess Prate Duty ; it is as lucid as any summary explanation of that cumbrous tax could be.
We may call attention to the Journal of Industrial Hygiene, the first monthly number of which has been sent to us (Macmillan; 3s. 6d., or 21s. for the year). It has been founded in connexion with the new courses of industrial hygiene in the Harvard Medical School, and its editorial staff, headed by Dr Edsall and Dr. Stanley Kent, is partly American and partly British. The first number includes important articles on " Telephone Operating " by Dr. Anna G. Richardson of Boston, " Lead Poisoning in America " by Dr. Alice Hamilton, and " The Problem of Fatigue " by Dr. Reynold Spaeth. The Journal is well produced and promises to be of great value. It affords a fresh example of the way in which America and Great Britain can co-operate for the good of humanity.
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