SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been reserved for review in other forms.] The National DVence Magazine.—We are glad to welcome the National Defence Magazine (2s. 6d. net) in its new quarterly form, the first issue of which has just been published. Among many interesting articles we may mention one upon " History and the Military Art," by Captain Cecil Battine, who declares that "history is the most perfect antidote to all that is deadening and disgusting in military work," and that " its special value lies in the stimulus it gives to the imagination."— Colonel R. Holden-Mackenzie discusses the problem of how the twenty-one days of his annual training might best be spent by the Special Reservist. At the same time he complains that the period is too short for efficiency, and suggests that it should be increased by a week. The twenty-one days, "after deducting Sundays and the days of assembly, packing up, and dismissal," are reduced in reality to "sixteen days at the outside, assuming fine weather to prevail throughout."—Colonel Alsager Pollock criticises the War Office scheme for providing armouries for the Territorials, and Mr. H. C. Woods writes upon "The Military Upheaval in Greece." An interesting and very clearly written article upon "Flight and its Future from a Military Standpoint" is provided by Captain H. R. Brancker ; while an interesting feature is to be found in a short story by "Ole Luk-Oie," which deals with an adventure in the South African War. It is to be hoped that the magazine will find a wide circulation, for it is interesting in very various ways, and, dealing with national defence both from the technical and the political standpoint, it appeals to the literary no less than to the patriotic instincts of the reader.
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