Evening star., 1935-01-05
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY SARAH C.. BOWERMAN.


Queenstown Command. BY E. Keble
Chatterton. Boston: Little, Brown
& Co.
During the World War the British
and American naval forces operated
| together of the coast of Ireland. The
Queenstown Command embraced the
area covering all the approaches to the
British Isles. The importance OF that
area was demonstrated in May, 1916,
! when only few miles from Queens
town, now Cobb, the LuSitania was
| torpedoed by the German submarine
| U-20. Sir Lewis Bayly was almost i'm
mediately appointed commander, with
headquarters in Queenstown, to fight
! the submarine menace. In May, 1917,
the first American destroyers arrived
and the author Of this thrilling chap
ter of World War history was in COM
mand of the first British vessel which
went out from Queenstown to meet
| the welcome Americans. Mr. Chatter
| ton, author Of many books about the
sea, one of the best of which Is 1.-THE
Sea Raiders" has told the whole story
| of British-American cooperation IN
those dangerous seas which surround
Scotland, Ireland and the entrance to
the English Channel, made more dan
gerous by the unseen presence Of
death-dealing submarines. He has
used all available documents and
much personal experience. The fore
word is written by Rear Admiral Sims
OF the United States Navy.
Mr.. Chatterton's book Is one which
will be in demand by all the Amer
ican officers and men who served in
the Queenstown Command, about
5000 of them, by people everywhere
especially interested in naval affairs
and by many general readers, who will
check back and forth between the text
and the detailed end-paper maps in
following the attacks and defenSes OF
the Anglo American pull together"
association. Strange vessels are shown
in the illustrations of the book,
striped, mottled, splashed, looking in
their camoufage like the product Of
some modernistic artist. They rescued
men from torpedoed boats, fighting
against the worst weather, and sank a
few U-boats on the offensive side Of
the war game. We'll may We now
adays smile at the question that was
put in 1920 by the Berlin Parlia-
mentary Committee Of Inquiry to the
German Admiral Koch-'How was it
that only one transport conveying
American troops to France was sunk
by submarine agency?' The reader
has already seen the answer for him.
self" Admiral Baylya6 three methods
of combating U-boats are described
and the effectiveness Of these methods
in rapidly reducing the number oper-
ating in the approach area. The
mystery Q-snips are also described,
with all their tricks Of collapsible deck
houses and undercover communica-
ton. The whole story Of Roger Case
ment, smuggled into Ireland from a
U-boat, is here told and its important
bearing on the problems of the
Queenstown Command is pointed out.
Mr.. Chatterton has no doubt that
Easement was the prime instigator of
German-supported rebellion" in Ire
land, nor that he deserved his convic-
tion and execution.
A SHORTER HISTORY OF ENG
LAND. BY Hilaire Belloc. New
| York: The Macmillan Co.
No intention of having this history
adopted as a text book in English, or
other, schools could have been in Mr..
Belloc's mind when he wrote it. He
evidently wrote it to please himself
and those readers who like an orig
inal point Of view and good writing.
A medievalist himself. he sees the
medieval period the most important
in Great Britain's history. So six
long chapters are given to the Roman
foundation, the Dark Ages, the Nor
man Conquest, the high Middle
Ages, the decline of the Middle Ages,
down to the advent of the Reforma-
ton; six more to the reigns Of Henry
VIII, Elizabeth and the Stuarts; and
only three chapters, of 78 pages alto
gether, to the nineteenth century.
The book ends, except for an epi-
logue, with the death of Queen Vic
toria in 1901 Mr. Belloc sees little
of good in this modern world, since
the downfall of the authority of kings
and the church. One does not need
to agree with him to enjoy his his
torical perception and brilliant style.
In addition to his assignment Of un-
usual proportions to the parts of Eng
hsh history. his refusal to telescope"
history, as he calls it, he has treated
the period following the Stuarts in a
manner to stress general forces. in
stead of personalities, for after the
destruction of kingly power in 1888,
a class governed, not persons. The
importance of the Roman foundation
of English society, Mr.. Belloc believes,
is not recognized by most historians,
so he gives nearly 100 pages to the
Roman invasion of England, with its
momentous consequences, among
them the ChriStianizing of England
by st. Augustine and the establish
ment Of the Catholic Church there
X X \ X
THE CAMBRIDGE SHORTER HIS
TORY OF INDIA. By j. Allen
| Sir T. Wolseley Haig and H. H.
Dodwell. New York: The Mac
milan Co.
The history Of India involves sc
much knowledge of languages, races
religions and traditions that any one
man who tries to write it must be
either superscholar or profoundly
self confident. The three men who
collaborate In this brief but compre-
hensive history are all well fitted for
the task. Mr.. Allan is keeper of the
department of coins and medals of
the British Museum, Sir T. Wolseley
Haig was formerly lecturer in Persian
in the School of Oriental Studies at
the University of London and Mr.
Dodwell is professor of the history
and culture Of the British Dominions
in Asia at the University of London
The volume embodieS the research
given more extensive representation
in the Cambridge History of India
itself, of which both Sir Wolseley
Haig and Mr.. Dodwell were editors
The history of India is treated in
three parts: Ancient India, Muslem
India and British India. A short
photography. a full index and q
maps are part of the volume.
X X X