Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/349

Rh

This interesting new book by Stanley Washburn is an attempt to summarize the military operations on the eastern front, which led to the evacuation of the great Russian fortresses in Poland.

The book is written from the point of view of one who is entirely in sympathy with Russia in the present conflict.

It is quite obvious that this is not the time to write a history of the great war, and the author's analytical study of the campaign can scarcely lay claim to historic accuracy, especially in point of interpretation. However, the touch of human sympathy that runs through the book makes it well worth reading, and the author's reflections during the period he followed the enormous Russian battle-line that stretches from Bukowlna to the Baltic, recorded here and there in the book, are extremely interesting.

Mr. Washburn deals at length with the German influences that dominated Russia before the war, and even during a part of the conflict. It is with genuine amazement that we learn of such a fact, for example, as that the fortress of Grodno, as well as several other Russian fortresses, were designed by German engineers, some of whom are now attached to the staff of General von Hindenburg, or that the bridges across the Vistula were constructed by German engineers, who preserved copies of the original plans. This accounts for the fact that some of the structures blown up by the retreating Russian troops were rebuilt by the Germans, sometimes in the course of a few hours.

A chapter in the book is devoted to the Chief of Staff of the Russian Army, General Alexeyev, while another chapter deals with the commercial opportunities that are open to American manufacturers in Russia.

In the last chapter of the book, Mr. Washburn unfortunately makes an excursion into the field of international politics. His treatment of the question of the Russian-American commercial treaty seems to us rather superficial and inadequate. But, except for this injection of something that is foreign to a war correspondent's account, Mr. Washburn's book is both instructive and entertaining.

M. V.

The two stories by Vladimir Ivan. Nemirovitch-Danchenko contained in this volume are from his Slezy (Tears), published in Moscow in 1894. It was a wise inspiration to issue them together, as they are two fine examples of the work of Danchenko, who excels in his shorter tales and sketches.

The Diploma is the story of the regeneration of a woman, and the degeneration of a man. So much of modern literature deals with the rising of the fallen and the falling of the risen. A woman of the