[Gutenberg 59519] • Hunting the Hun

1918 Captain Belton and Lieutenant Odells book of the war will be read with deep and sustained interest by everyone rho wants to understand the real thing. For myself I confess to being thrilled by the simple, direct, conversational style of the chapters describing the preparations for the attack on and ultimate cap ture of Vimy Ridge. The complete absence of any attempt at word-painting, the little touches of actuality, such as the pattern of white tapes on the practice ground which shoved the conformation of the German trenches, and the method of signalling to the contact aeroplane during an advance--these features are at once novel and arresting. The story is told with the terseness of a despatch. You see the battalion gathering for its deadly work after the training is done you plod with it in Indian file along thc Aux Rcitz communication trench you sprawl with the officers and men in the jumping-off trench you wonder whether the miasing jar of rum will turn up in time, and, finally, you go over the top with what amounts to a sigh of relief that the ghastly period of waiting has ended and that the Zero Hour will mark either the end or the beginning of a strnngely heroic experience..