New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-04-17
BOOKS OF THE SEASON
READY AND TO COME
The Book Trade and the War-Our Arm,
and Navy and American World Politics
A New Literature of Business

: war shall have ended. The struggle
has. indeed, been a liberal education
to US. a revelation Of both dangers
and possibilities to which hitherto
only a small minority OF us had
given heed. Prot Roland G. Usher
may eXaggerate when he prophecies
that within the next few years we
shall have to fght the victor in the
European struggle, whether it be
England or G rmany, but certain it
is that in the new alignment of the
great powers hereafter our position
will be a difficult one. In this de-
p7rtmert Of literature-that Of
American diplomaCy-our education
may we'll 60 back to the very be-
girnings OF the Republic. Beside the
new books lis I'd in another column
of this issue of The Tribune, to which
additions will be made as soon as
they appear. there IS an older, hither-
to far too much neglected body OF
books dealing with the history of
our foreign relations that deserves
TO be rescued from oblivion, and
rcissued in new and, if possible,
popular editions. Such work as
Prof. Reinsch's World Politics, "
published more than decade ago,
deserves renewed attention as prob
ably the best general introduction TO
modern international relations. their
meanings. purposes and dangers,
available in English. 1t was. and to
large extent remains. the successor
Of Sir Charlie bikes Present State
of European Politics." classic that,
by the way, still is OF great historic
interest.
There is a growing American liter
ature on South American trade, be-
sides an older, valuable English liter
ature on the subject. We have an
excellent work on the influence Of
the Panama Canal on the develop
ment of that commerce. The Mon
roe Doctrine is assuming new mean
ings in the light of to-day's events
and to-morrow's possibilities. In
ternational law is receiving full at
tention from the American point of
view-in short, authoritative writer's
are laboring to give us fullest in
formation about our new status as
a world power in a new world poll
tics in process OF evolution. These
are, above all others, the books
which Americans should be reading
to-day.
THE WORLD WAR.
The literature Of the world war
has grown to amazing proportions in
its first phase. A process Of sclec-
ton, above all Of elimination, is al
ready going on here, for, truth to
tell. much Of what was written in the
first heat of the conflict has no per-
manent value Of any kind. Most OF
the pamphleteering-for that is all it
amounted to in the mass-was
merely the expression of patriotism,
prejudice, hatred and fear. Misrep-
resentation on both sides was for the
moment a patriotic duty, all the
more easily performed because
oftenest based on honest self-decep-
ton. Even the official White. Red,
Orange and other chromatic books
must be taken with a reservation, if
only on account of what they omit
to state. This is made clear already
by the first Diplomatic istory OF
the War yet written, magnificent
example OF scientifically impartial
historical work by an Englishman,
M. p. Price. + more elaborate
study of this phase of the struggle,
by an American, is now announced,
the first volume of Ellery G. How
ellis Diplomacy of the War OF
1914" Mr.. Howell is professor of
international law at Columbia. and
was one of the secretaries of the
/
/ Hague, secretary of the Panama
delegation there, and secretary OF
the American delegation at the Ma
val Conference in London in 1908.
A biblography of the war will be
published in these columns next
Saturday, April "a. 1t will embrace
the excellent work done by Ameri-
can war correspondents like Irwin
Cobb and L. Alexander Powell, and
books by their colleagues in the field
now in course of preparation. Worth
mentioning here are Fritz Kreislers
Six Weeks in the Trenches" Emile
Verhaeren's The Belgian Spirit, "
Sven Hedin's much discussed With
the German Armies" in an I'M
abridged translation, and Frank H..
7 Simonds's second volume on the
strategy of The Great War: From
the Fall of Antwerp 70 April, 1915
/ COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY.
/ A noticeable increase in the num-
Der and the scope of books on the
conduct OF business is another feat
ure OF the seasons spring an
nouncements. This literature stands
apart from the field OF economics in
that it is thoroughly practical. 1t
deals with those innumerable details
OF organization. management costs,
distribution craftsmanship, advertis-
ing and bookkeeping which the po-
litical economist takes for granted.