The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-07
The Critic of War
Dimes Well Be-
tween Talks With
Kings

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Kings
THE FIRST WORLD WAR 1e14-191s:
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF
LIEUT.-COL. C. a COURT REPING-
TON, c. NJ g. In two volumes.
Houghton Mifiin Company.
Reviewed by
CORNELIS DE WITT WILCOX,
Colonel United States Army; Professor Of
Modern Languages. West Point.
Under the misleading title of the
First World War" Col Repington
gives us the diary he kept of his per-
sonal experiences. a formidable work
of nearly 1900 pages, totalling well
over 100000 words. Merely to read II
is no mean task. It opens with two
chapters that strictly speaking form
no part Of the diary. The first of these,
Of absorbing interest, recounts the
origin and growth of the British mill
tary understanding with the French.
The second runs rapidly over the first
few days Of the war, and the diary it.
self opens with Chapter III. 1t must
be understood that this diary is quite
in the grand style. 1t reminds US to
certain extent of some Of the diaries or
memoirs Of elder days; If we may be
pardoned the word, it is almost prime
ministerial" And just as some great
Minister of the Government, In his
recollections published long after his
death, turns now and then from grave
matters of state to daily with the
lesser and lighter matters of life, so
does Col. Repington. He has leisure
TO comment, for example, on clothes,
pictures, housefurnishings the theatre.
dinners and good dinners. In this
matter of repasts indeed nowhere else
in the whole range Of the literature Of
memoirs can such a record be found.
From the beginning to the end OF his
book Col. Repington mentions the
luncheons and dinners he attended,
besides those he gave himself. Not one
escapes. "Lunched with -" "Dined
with -" So it runs page on page,
and then follows the list of guests, and
in frequent cases, as though to clinch
the matter. the street and number Of
the house where he iunched or dined.
There must be nearly thousand Of
these prandial mentions: they form as
it were the milestones of his long jour-
ney through the war. Between meals,
so to say, Repington talked; had
talk" had a nice talk. a good talk, a
long talk" Through his pages march
hundreds and hundreds of persons;
soldiers, sailors, statesmen (very,
very few of these!) ladies', great
ladies', pretty ladies, nice girls, French
men, Italians. Americans, Russians,
Spaniards. so many indeed that when
they reach the last page they rush
the index and leave room there for
nothing but their names. Not single
subject or thing is mentioned. Even
though 1t sins by rare omission this
index Is painstaking affair: for
example, %. 576-Volume ~ General
Dessino and his daughter came in
later" to luncheon. The index duly
the daughter of, I. $751;" We can but
regret that Aunt Liz" whoever she
may be, mentioned in Volume l., should
not also have found last resting
place In this index, and also pretty
Bridget" who kissed the author under
the mistletoe at Christmas. Small
stuff, all this; yes, but so are straws
Colonel Repington finds room for &C.
casional anecdotes, two or three Of
which make us regret the absence of
the censor. When Balfour was told
that in the first few days Of the March
81 push the British had already lost
1000 guns he remarked calmly, "Oh,
really, what a bore!" A better story
Is Clemenceau's complaint of the
President: HE annoys me with
his IA Commandments Our Heavenly
Father had only 10!" Here is another:
Lloyd George, asked If he understood
French. answered that he did when
spoken by Lord Grey. but not when
spoken by the French themselves
Trivialities are not lacking. and now
and then we come plump upon a bit
Of gossip. dragged in by the hair. and
of no possible relation to anything
else In the book.
We must not. however. allow the
trifling side Of the book to deceive US.
Colonel Repington has really written
a serious book; any long book is by
so much a very serious matter indeed
to-day; but that Is not altogether the
sort OF seriousness we have In mind.
Orce a soldier himself, and an ac-
credited military critic on the staff
first of the Times and later on the
Morning Post. knowing nearly every
one worth knowing, Colonel Repington
had opportunities to discuss with all
sorts and conditions Of people the
progress of the war. He takes him
self seriously. as becomes a man who
has word OF mouth with kings. field
marshals and prime ministers. to say
nothing of the commoner ruck of men.
He reports conversations with these,
reflects and reproduces their opinions
while not suppressing his own. And
SO his book forms a sort of running
commentary on the war itself. largely
from an administrative and British
point OF view. He is throughout a
critic Of the Government. in fact the
chief value of his book lies in it's
criticism of the administrative conduct
OF the war. He loses no opportunity.
for example, to criticise the immo-