The Naval Pocketbook, 1896, by W. Laird Clowes, published by the Tower Publishing Company, Limited, London, is the first issue of a proposed handy annual of facts and figures relating to the navies of all nations. It shows evidence of much care in compilation, and is well indexed. As special features, it contains profile and deck plans of nearly all the latest warships, showing their armor and the distribution of their batteries; and “trial trip tables,” wherein is given, for a knot made in an observed interval of time, the corresponding speed of the vessel in knots per hour, the tabulated time intervals being tenths of seconds. A list of the dry-docks of the world, with their principal dimensions, is also one of the valuable features of the book. Its pocket size and moderate price, five shillings, should transfer much valuable information from reference books in a ship’s library to the pocket of every officer.
J. M. E.
The 9th Annual of Aide-Mémoire de l’Officier de Marine, 1896, by Edouard Durassier, continued by Charles Valentino, published by Henri Charles-Lavauzelle, Paris, contains very complete statistics of the matériel and personnel of the navies of the world. These statistics, although not entirely free from minor errors, which can and should be eliminated, are, in the main, correct and well arranged. Republished in this edition from the Revue Maritime et Coloniale are some “deductions drawn from the battle of the Yalu and from the maritime operations of the Japanese,” which are worthy of careful study by every naval officer. Thirty-six pages are devoted to a handy résumé of maritime international law. The tabulation of the cable communications of the world is a particularly valuable feature and could be doubled in value by the tabulation of cable rates. The book is of handy size, well printed, and moderate in price.
J. M. E.