i8 
LAND & WATER 
November i, 19 17 
Books of the Week 
The Losl Naval Papers. By Bernard Copplestone. John 
Murray- 'is. net. 
Songs 0? the Submarine. By " Ki-XXON." 2S. net. 
Ballads of the Flying Corps." By G. R. SamwAYs. McBnde. 
Nast and Co. 2S. 6d. net. 
A Bolt from the East. By G. F. Turner. Methuen. 5s.net. 
Under the Hermes. By Rich.\rd Dehan. Hememann. 
()S. not. 
The Red Planet. By W. J. Locke. John Lane. 6s. 
Revolver Shooting in War. A Practical HandbooK. ay 
CxPTAiN Charles D. Tracy, the Kmg's Own (Koyai 
Lancaster) Rcgt. Sifton Pracd and Co. is. 6d. net. 
MR. BERNARD COPPLESTONE, author of The 
Lost Naval Papers, can tell a good story, and 
also on occasion can be delightfully nnpudent in 
dealing with politicians, whose identity he veils 
thinlv In this volume he recounts the experiences of one 
Inspector Dawson, of the British secret service, in connec- 
tion with the-weU-being of the Grand Fleet during the 
first two years of the war. There is a spice of actuahty 
about the stories which renders them attractive, and 
there is, too, enough character sketching about Dawson 
which renders him a figure to remember. He is both 
imaginative and unimaginative, a mere policeman and a 
genius— such a mass of contradictions, in fact, as enables 
one to see him as a mere man, and not as the ordinary de- 
tective of fiction. There is about the book a healthy tang ot 
salt water, although all of Dawson's adventures take place on 
land or in the docks where battleships do resort. 
**,•*♦ 
Some among the many readers of Mr. A\'illiam J. Locke's 
work may vote his latest book, The Red Planet (John Lane, 6s.) 
a trifle slow in comparison with earlier works ; Mr. Locke has 
in this instance, written not only a story, but also a study of 
the war as it affects the provincial community in England 
—very much in the same way as Wells wrote of Mr. Britling 
and his little communitv. Thus those who read for the s^ke 
of the story may find that it drags a bit, for there are reflections 
o^ the way it) which Britain has responded to the calls of the 
w^ar, reflections put, aptly enough, into the mouth of an officer 
who was wounded in the South African campaign past the 
possibihty of further service. For the rest, the story itself 
is of a man who was a coward, and who, knov\ing his own 
cowardice, set to' work to achieve his own redemption — as 
far as his past history left that possible. It also tells of a 
gallant English gentleman or two, and a woman or two who 
are worth knowing, and, with the artistry that is peculiar to 
him, the author takes good care that his readers shall know 
the charj^cters very thoroughly by the time the last pa^e is 
reached. The oft-quoted long arm of coincidence is strained 
a bit in order to achieve the ending familiar to Mr. Locke's 
readers, and one could wish he had made his main character, 
the disabled major, rather less of' aaipple. Nevertheless, The 
Red Planet is a novel that will give pleasure to many, and is 
a good picture of provincial England as affected by the war. 
« * * * * 
Mr. G. R. Samways, who sings of the Flying Corps, has 
already made himself somewhat of a place with aeroplane 
verse, in which he displays the spirit of the youthful pilot. 
For instance, this from The Sergeant 
Who, when the dawn of peace comes round 
Will ne'er by anxious friends be found. 
Because he's flayed alive, or drowned ? 
The Sergeant 1 
will w^in the sympathy of all " quirks " who know that 
sergeant so very well. Not that the author is always in 
caustic mood, for he can also write good stuff of the Kip- 
lingesque type on occasion. " Klaxon," although concerned 
most with ditties that saiiormen will smile over, since they 
are written by one who has lived what he writes about, also 
produces verse of fine quality — his " Overdue." is work of 
unusual merit, and the invocation " To the Scottish Regi- 
ment-s," again is more than mer» verse. We hope to hear 
more of " Klaxon," who has originality of method as well as 
of theme, and has the power to express what his fellows of 
the submarine can only think. 
* * « * * 
It is. in a way, a disappointment to open a book by Richard 
Dehan and find that it consists of short stories, but in Under 
the Hermes (Heinemann, 6s. net), this author has produced 
a collection of tales w^hich will not di-appoint the reader. 
The subjects range from study in the British Museum to life 
among the Eskimos of Greenland, and include a couple of 
sketches of the French Revolution in which the author shows 
the skill of the real short story writer, more especially in the 
sketch of Voltaire at the deathbed of Emilie du Chfttelet, 
an-Z, after, on liis way to the court of the King of Prussia. 
In these eighteen stories are humour and tragedy, mystery 
and fine descriptive power, and in each one of them is a 
touch of the artistry that made The Dop Doctor a famous 
book. More especially will " The Jest," and " How Yamko 
married fourteen wives," appeal to lovers of folk-lore. 
« * * * « 
In A Bolt from the East, by G. F. Turner (Methuen, 5s. 
net), there is an attempt to answer the question as to whether 
life is worth living, and at the end one is forced to the conclusion 
that the hackneyed answer to the conundrum is still applicable. 
The hero is an Indian prince, who brings in theosophic 
theories and the doctrine of reincarnation, attempting to solve 
the great problems of life off-hand and to claim, not equality 
with, but definite knowledge of God, or the Prime Cause, or 
wiiatever name may be used. How the prince's pride is 
brought low. and he is made to sec himself as a man and no more 
is told with great skill and not a little wit, and the theories 
which the author wishes to enunciate are set round a plot 
which holds the attention of the reader from first page to last 
. — the moral is kept subservient to the novel all the time. 
Dealing boldly and yet reverentially with spiritual matters, 
the author has written an exceptionally good novel. 
4> * it< * * 
The author of this excellent little book. Captain Tracy, is 
a recognised authority on his subject. An expert shot himself, 
he has done invaluable work in training some thousands of 
officers in the use of the revolver under service conditions. 
He is, we believe, the pioneer in this branch of instruction, 
having started the first army school in the subject, and 
revolutionised its teaching. In the present volume he sup- 
plies, in an easily intelhgible and compact form, a resumd of 
the lectures he has given to officers of the British Army and 
the Overseas Forces. The ideal at which he aims in his 
teaching is well-expressed in his story of an American cow- 
boy who, being asked by a bystander the secret of his wonder- 
ful speed and accuracy in shooting, replied contemptuously, 
" Guess yer a clurk, ain't yer ? Wal, you don't have to aim 
with your pen every time yoQ write a letter, do you ? " In 
other words. Captain Tracy's methods aim at making the 
pupils shoot accurately by a hal)it that becomes second in- 
stinct, so that the officer will shoot at an object as easily and 
with as little error as one points one's finger at it. The book is full 
of sound hints and is distinguished by the insight of a born 
teacher into the personal element in training. We commend 
it as the bPst introduction to the use of the revolver. 
THE 
NINETEENTH CENTURY 
AND AFTER 
NOVEMBElR. 
How to Break Austria. By the Very Rev. Oamon WILLIAM BARUY. D.D. 
Th» Peril of Underground Germanism. By W. MOKEIS COLLES. 
TIM Do-Nationalisation of the Church of England. 
By tli« Kiiilit Htv. lliu U)RU BISHOP OF CAIUJSLE. 
What a Premature Peace would mean : some Facts lor " Pacifists." 
Hy J. KLLIS B.MiKER. 
A Plea for the Little People. By WILLI.\M H.AUIiUTT DAWSON. 
SilKor in the New Era. By MOKIiTON FliKWEX. 
Religion under Repair: a Reply to Professor Lindsay. By A. P. .SIXNETT. 
The Story of the Declaration of Paris. By Sir FRANCIS PIGQOTT (late 
Cliief Justic*. of Uong Kong) 
The True Freedom of the Sea. By Sir JOITN' MACDONF.LL. K.C.B. 
"Peace without Anncxaiions or Indemnities'': a Letter from Pctrograd in 
June. Bv .lOUX PULLUCK. 
The Fight against Venereal Infection: a Reply to Sir Bryan Donkin. 
By Sir FRANCIS CM AMt'NKYS. B.irt., M.D. 
The Education of a Nation. By Sir UKNUV BI.AKF,. G.C.M.G. 
Beerbohm Tree and the Shakespearean Theatre. Bv 11. M. WALHIiOOK. 
The Air War and the Bishops' Religion: a Rejoinder to Canon Welch. 
By HAIIOM) F. WYATT. 
Where the lm|>erial Conference has left us. By W. BASH, WOi:.SF0LD. 
President Wilson's Greatest Achievement. By ROBERT MACHRAY. 
Loriion: Spottiswoode. Ballantyne & Co., Ltd., 1, New-street Square. 
SCENES IN 
France and Flanders. 
The most vivid impression of the battle 
area is to be obtained from the series 
of Eng-raving-s in Colour by Captain 
Handley-Read — just published by the 
Leicester Galleries. 
Write for Particulars to ih» 
PUBLISHER : 
LAND & WATER, 5 Chancery Lane, W.C2. 
