In _Verdun to the Vosges_ (ARNOLD) MR. GERALD CAMPBELL has paid a generous tribute to the indomitable courage of our French Allies. His position as Special Correspondent of _The Times_ gave him opportunities--strictly limited, of course, but unique--of recording in particular the earlier phases of the War on the fortress frontier of France; and he has produced a volume which shows no trace of civilian authorship, except in those qualities which confess the art of a trained writer. Never obtruding his own personality, he gives us here and there a glimpse of privileged experiences and happy relationships with the French authorities, civil and military, notably the Préfet of Meurthe et Moselle, whose letter to the author, published as an epilogue, is a document of astounding force and eloquence. If I have a complaint to make it is that in a serious history--the kind that you must follow very closely on the map--Mr. CAMPBELL should have spent so much time on general reflections and homilies which might just as well have been compose in Fleet Street or the salient of Ypres. And it is perhaps a pity that, where his subject gave him no chance of dealing with his own country's share in the War, he should have exposed at considerable length certain defects in the English character which delayed the adoption of national service. It is true that universal compulsion had not been adopted at the time when Mr. CAMPBELL was writing, and it is certain that no one who knows the good work he has done in helping the two nations to a better understanding of one another will question his motives; but I think that these reflections upon England, very English in their candour, have no proper place in a history of the achievements of France; and I hope that they may be cut out of the French translation which is shortly to appear. For the rest (and a good big rest) it is an enthralling book; and if I were a Frenchman I should read it with a very great pride. Even as it is, and notwithstanding what I have said, I am proud enough that an Englishman should have written it. * * * * * [Illustration: PAINFUL PREDICAMENT OF MNEMO, THE WORLD-FAMED MEMORISER, WHO, AFTER A HARD DAY AT A MATINEE AND TWO EVENING PERFORMANCES, FORGETS THE NAME AND NUMBER OF HIS HOUSE.] * * * * *