The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-08-10

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torian, intimate with the traditions of
Italy, an admirer of her people and insti-
tutions, familiar with her language and
sympathetic with her aspirations. More
over, he is real student of the psyehol-
Ogy of the Italians and recognizes keenly
that they are a strange mixture of ma
terialism and idealism. As commandant
of the first British Red Cross unit for
Italy from the middle of 1915 to the end
of 1918, most of which time was spent
III the war zone, he had unusual oppor-
tunities to get first hand information from
Italians of all ranks. That he made good
use of those opportunities is evidenced
by his book, Scenes From Italy's War.
Careful perusal of this book will go a
long way toward purging the minds Of
many English readers of erroneous ideas
and mistaken notions of the conduct. Of
the Italians during the war.
Mr.. Trevelyan is master both of the
art of narrative and of compression, and
he depicts in a lucid and terse fashion
the conditions that existed In Italy, par
ticularly in her Government, during the
time that she was making tie decision, so
momentous to her allies, - forsake her
neutrality. Any one who reads the first
chapter, entitled Days Of Nay, viii get
a fairly comprehensive idea of the de-
termined forces that finally took the Gov
eminent out of the hands of Giolitti, the
dictator, and made it the expression of the
will of the people, who, despite the CO.
quoting of Germany, realized that her
promises were but camoufage of the de-
termination ON the part of Austria, the
ancient and hereditary enemy of Italy, to
make her vassal country. 1t would have
added enormously to this chapter had the
author made reference to the public utter
anoe of Salandra, made In the early au-
tumn of 1918, that Italy's King was de-
termined to abdicate the throne had his
country not made the decision to throw
her fortunes in with the. Allies. Evil
minded, nalign, bigoted and prejudiced
individuals, who seem to have perverted
pleasure in maintaining that Italy spent
the months of her neutrality bartering
with the Allies and the Central Powers
- to determine from which she could get the
best terms, may get their jaundiced minds
clarified by careful perusal of this chap
ter.
The second and third chapters are Of
less interest and are taken up largely
with more or less personal narrative of
the advent and conduct oe the British
Red Cross unit which Mr.. Trevelyan d.
rected. Nevertheless, he intersperses his
narrative with personal notes which help
to sustain the interest of the reader. His
remarks on the Italian engineers; ON the
way in which the italian medical war
service controlled what threatened to be
a most devastating attack of cholera in
the summer of 1916; on the accomplish
ments of the Flats and the conduct of the
mules, whose adequate praise has yet to
be sung, all make interesting reading.
The writer gives lively description of
the Isonzo front in 1916, which, unsup-
ported by documentary evidence of any
sort, must perforee be what he has seen
or heard. Really a unique opportunity
Tor historian to be for weeks and months
in the midst of battle and to draw his
conclusions of its conduct from personal
observations. What he has to say about
the Bersagheri, whose fame goes back to
the '40s of the last century, when they
were the crack regiment of the little Pied
montese army that played so great a
part in the making of Italy and who
nowadays add to their stature, physically
and mentally, by their nodding plumes,
is very interesting. Likewise his deserip-
ton of the troops known as the Arditi,
that is, the daredevils or men full Of dar-
ing, and of the Aplini, who are recruited
from the mountains and who are neither
so modern and impressionistic as the Ar
dit, nor so dignifed aid early Victorian