Book Reviews National Defense, by Julia E. Johnsen, New York: The H. W. Wilson Company. Cloth, 8 vo., 279 pages. Price $1.80. "Where can I find something on National Defense and Universal Military Training?" This is a question that is often propounded to officers of the Army. At last we have something on the subject. National Defense is one of a series of Debaters' Hand Books. It contains a collection of the best articles from the leading publications, speeches of members of Congress on the floor of the House, the writings of leading advocates for national preparedness, which in its. final analysis means universal military training. Every officer of the Army should be prepared at all times to talk on the subject of National Defense, preparedness and Universal Military Training. He should be able to answer effectively the arguments against these national measures. This book will place in his hands a wealth of readily accessible material. It gives not only our side but the opposing side of the question, which latter is just as valuable from the argumentative point of view as the former. This book should be included in Army libraries wherever they are found. The German General Staff and Its Decisions, 1914-1916, by General Erich von Falkenhayn, German Minister of War (1914) and afterward Chief of Staff. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920. Price $5.00. General Von Falkenhayn, German Minister of War, became Chief of the General Staff of the Army in the Field soon after the outbreak of the war, in place of the invalidated Von Moltke, and held that post until succeeded by Von Hindenburg some two years later. The book is written purely from a General Staff point of view. One may gather that there was an emperor, but there is little reference to him and less to the princes. Operations are treated fully and synchronously. The reader's mind leaps from front to front, keeping up-to-date on the several operations and their relations to each other. Army commanders and their chiefs of staff are carefully mentioned, but few others are noticed. The General Staff sections were: Operations, Political, Personal Services and General Business, Information and Intelligence. The chiefs of sections were field officers, only one of colonel's grade. Von Falkenhayn shows some contempt for the Austrians and they had a similar contempt for the Bulgarians, which did not exactly make for harmony. Besides that each country had its private objectives, which weakened teamplay. The Turks, however, get some compliments. The maps are fair and the plans and operations well described. The author shows a good deal of bitterness against the United States, which might have been better in another work, as it interrupts his otherwise calm discussion of plans and operations. The work is generally written so as to be a useful study for a staff officer, but is marred by these ebullitions of feeling. There are good accounts of operations on the East Front and on the Balkan Front and interesting statistics of the operations against Verdun. Falkenhayn does not seem very bitter about giving up his post as Chief of the General Staff to Hinderburg, but resented not having been consulted in advance. In this he had an opportunity to study Prussian ideas of courtesy at first hand. The book will fill an important niche in the history of the World War. Sir Douglas Haig's Dispatches, edited by Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Boraston, O. B. E. Illustrated. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1920. Price $15.00. The dispatches that make up this volume were issued primarily by the commander-in-chief of the British forces in France for the purpose of keeping the people of the empire in touch with their own armies in the field. They were published, finally, and in their present form, as a tribute to the "valor of the British soldier and the character of the British nation." Still another purpose, a more forward-looking one, is served by these official communications. For, in an introduction to the work, Field Marshal Foch himself testifies to their "scrupulous accuracy," to their "strict regard for the truth in even the slightest details." And again, he declares that the "information that they give, both about the military operations themselves and about the training and condition of the troops, constitutes them historical documents of the highest order." Therefore, both the technic of war and lessons of military history lie in these dispatches to the British Government. The period covered by them is about three years. A great number of sketch maps. and a portfolio of durable folding maps objectify the military movements and supplement the text. I THE UNITED STATES INFANTRY ASSOCIATION "The object of the Association shall be to promote the efficiency of the Infantry arm of the military service of our country by maintaining its best standards and traditions, by fostering esprit de corps, by the dissemination of professional knowledge, and by exchange of ideas as to the utilization of such knowledge with particular reference to the rôle of Infantry in modern war."-Article III of the Constitution. OFFICERS MAJOR GENERAL JOHN L. HINES, U. S. Army. Vice-President: BRIGADIER GENERAL HANSON E. ELY, Infantry. Secretary: LIEUTENANT COLONEL WILLIAM H. WALDRON, Infantry. Additional Members of Executive Council: Brigadier General Dennis E. NOLAN, Infantry. COLONEL PETER MURRAY, Infantry. COLONEL JOHN MCA. PALMER, Infantry. COLONEL BRIANT H. WELLS, Infantry. LIEUTENANT COLONEL CAMPBELL KING, Infantry. MAJOR GEORGE A. LYNCH, Infantry. MAJOR EVAN E. LEWIS, Infantry. Honorary Members of Executive Council: COLONEL JOHN Q. TILSON. LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHARLEs S. WhittlesEY. CONDITIONS OF MEMBERSHIP All commissioned officers in good standing, or former commissioned officers of honorable record of the regular or volunteer military or naval service, including Reserve Corps, and of the National Guard are eligible for regular or associate membership in the Association. Membership dates from the first of the month following the date of election. Dues are $1.00 annually, payable in advance. Members may obtain the INFANTRY Journal for $2.00 per year. The Infantry Association is not responsible for opinions expressed in published contributions. All communications should be addressed to the Secretary, the United States Infantry Association, Room 508 Union Trust Building, Washington, D. C. Cable address: Infantry, Washington. President, Lieut. Colonel A. Mitchell; Secretary, Captain G. W. Eagles. Twenty-second Infantry: Fort Jay, N. Y.; President, Lieut. Col. Twenty-third Infantry: Camp Travis, Tex.; President, Colonel Twenty-fourth Infantry: Columbus, N. M.; President, Major Twenty-fifth Infantry: Camp Stephen D. Little, Nogales, Arizona; President, Colonel Earl C. Carnahan; Secretary, Second Lieut. E. A. Grupe. Twenty-sixth Infantry: Camp Dix, N. J.; President, Colonel Twenty-eighth Infantry: Camp Dix, N. J.; President, Colonel Twenty-ninth Infantry: Camp Benning, Ga.; President, Colonel Thirtieth Infantry: Camp Pike, Arkansas; President, Col. Thirty-first Infantry: Manila, P. I.; President, Colonel Fred Thirty-second Infantry: Presidio, San Francisco, Calif.; President, Colonel Thomas A. Pearce; Secretary, Captain W. H. Hammond. Thirty-third Infantry: Camp Gatum, Canal Zone; President, Camp Meade, Md.; President, Major Thirty-fifth Infantry: Honolulu, H. T.; President, Lt. Col. L. Thirty-sixth Infantry: Camp Devens, Mass.; President, The Thirty-seventh Infantry: Fort Wayne, Mich.; President, Colonel Thirty-eighth Infantry: Camp Pike, Ark.; President, Colonel Thirty-ninth Infantry: Camp Lewis, Wash.; President, Colonel |