the best of all. I recall its first appearance at the Front as a
constituted unit, and can speak to it that the impression its arrival
caused was welcome and comforting. But our author is not only a
soldier; he has also the literary art. Clearly he appreciates that a
fine subject is not all that is wanted to make a good book; that one
needs, for instance, the gift of observation, the power of conveying
an impression, and a reserve of humour always ready at need. All these
are his in abundance. His book treats of two earlier periods of the
war; the second, the long-drawn offensive of the Somme, will make
the most intimate appeal to men of his own and the other divisions
involved. To those who knew the affair at first hand the story will
recall much that they saw and felt themselves; often they will
recognise a map-reading or will come across the name of a humble
billet which they too regarded as a paradise replete with every modern
comfort. Upon those who now learn it for the first time a deep and
enduring impression will be produced. Captain Ross writes always with
a due respect for the serious nature of his subject; but there are
times when he breaks away from his military and literary discipline.
There is for example, a moment when he dines well, "no more wisely
than was desirable, no less wisely than was excusable." It must be
added that the accompanying sketches are, if not of an ambitious
order, yet of a certain merit. At any rate they assist.

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[Illustration: _Desperate Tenant_. "CONCENTRATE ON THE COAL-SHED,
GUV'NOR."]

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