This html article is produced from an uncorrected text file through optical character recognition. Prior to 1940 articles all text has been corrected, but from 1940 to the present most still remain uncorrected. Artifacts of the scans are misspellings, out-of-context footnotes and sidebars, and other inconsistencies. Adjacent to each text file is a PDF of the article, which accurately and fully conveys the content as it appeared in the issue. The uncorrected text files have been included to enhance the searchability of our content, on our site and in search engines, for our membership, the research community and media organizations. We are working now to provide clean text files for the entire collection.
CENSORSHIP 1917. By James R. Mock. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press. 250 pages. 1941. $2.50.
Reviewed by Lieutenant Clarke Olney, U. S. Naval Reserve
In Censorship 1917, James R. Mock presents a detailed study of censorship in the nited States during the first World War. comparison of this book with the juthor’s Words That Won the War (written ln. elaboration with Cedric Larson; renewed in the Naval Institute Proceedings for February, 1940) will show a considerable amount of repetition and over- apping. Both books draw heavily from the unexcelled resources of the National Archives, of which institution Dr. Mock is Associate Archivist.
In the main, the earlier book deals with _e operations of George Creel’s Committee on Public Information in both its Positive and negative functions (propaganda and censorship). The present volume considers primarily the working of the ,ensorship Board, established by Presi- ent Wilson in 1917 and consisting of representatives of the Secretaries of War und the Navy, the Postmaster General, the War Trade Board, and the C.P.I.
In his first chapter, “Our Censorship Heritage,” Dr. Mock outlines the operations of censorship in our previous wars; in subsequent chapters he shows how censorship functioned under the Espionage and the Trading-with-the-Enemy Acts of 1917. He shows how these acts were applied in the censorship of postal, cable, wireless, and land-line communications; of newspapers, magazines, and books; of motion pictures; and of public speaking. Some of the incidents he relates throw valuable light upon the reactions to censorship that may be expected from the American public in the present war emergency.
The author’s conclusions as to the inevitability of censorship in war time will surprise few readers; but his warning that civil liberties must be fully restored when peace comes, while perhaps not entirely pertinent to the subject matter he has presented, is sound and enlightened.
MODERN MARINE ENGINEER’S MANUAL, VOL. 1. By Alan Osbourne, Editor in Chief. New York: Cornell Maritime Press. 1941. $6.00. Reviewed by Lieutenant H. L. Sargent, U. S. Navy (Retired)
The Modern Marine Engineer's Manual
cated :
Mathematics and Mechanics.................. 94 pages
Safety........................................................... 45 pages
Engineering Materials.................................. 52. pages
is the panacea for harassed operating engineers. It covers an enormous field in amazing detail and will be a particularly welcome addition to a limited engineering library.
Compiled by a group of marine engineers, it covers all marine installations that one may encounter, from fire tube boilers of the earlier types to modern high-pressure turbines. This manual is not for the Merchant Marine to the exclusion of the naval engineer. Naval equipment is covered adequately. It will be of primary importance to the experienced naval engineer who is suddenly called upon to run the plant of some converted auxiliary, or that recommissioned ship whose engineering files did not survive the decommissioning period.
This volume is a library of information to alleviate the distress of a small ship engineer who does not have access to the countless instruction pamphlets of the manufacturers of marine equipment. In preparing the volume as a textbook, the editor is cognizant of the field to be covered in one volume, and has adopted an admirable method of presenting sufficient theory as a background, developing one particular type of equipment rather thoroughly, and pointing out major differences in related equipment. Trade and type names are given, explained, and diagrammed.
The Manual is practical. It is profusely illustrated and contains all the tables dear to the heart of an operating engineer. Not an integration sign or a formula development appears. The law is stated, the formula given, and a practical example is worked out.
The field covered is best described by a list of the section titles. The scope of each section may be judged by the pages indi
Pipe, Fittings, and Packing...................... 76.. pages
Thermodynamics................................ 150 pages
Combustion.................................................. 178 pages
Boilers......................................................... 153 pages
Boiler Operation and Maintenance.. 101 pages
Reciprocating Engines........................... 76.. pages
Main Steam Turbines........................... 242 pages
Bearings and Shafting.................................... 53.. pages
Lubrication.................................................... 52.. pages
Condensers................................................... 109 pages
Pumps.......................................................... 176 pages
PREPARE FOR PEACE. By Henry M. Wriston. New York: Harper and Brothers. 1941. 275 pages. $2.50.
Reviewed by Commander Marcy M.
Dupre, Jr., U. S. Navy
It may seem paradoxical in view of the continuing acts of treachery and unwarranted, murderous assaults on civilized human beings by barbaric peoples to advocate preparation for peace now. But, as Dr. Wriston so ably urges in his book, Prepare for Peace, the object of war is peace. It is quite reasonable, therefore, to insist that the preparations for peace be as thorough and as vigorous as those for war, else the peace may be lost.
Dr. Wriston counsels what every true sailor carries ever uppermost in his mind forehandedness. As a part of our preparations he suggests the creation under the Department of State of an organization, a Board of Peace Strategy, if you will, charged with the duty of formulation of plans for peace. In this connection Dr. Wriston reviews the outstanding causes of friction among the members of the American peace delegation prior to and at Paris in 1919 and recommends policies designed to avert similar chaos and to promote harmony in forthcoming negotiations.
Dr. Wriston analyzes with force and clarity the factors involved in the transition from war to peace. He presents certain fundamental policies which logic and historical precedent dictate shall be given earnest consideration by those burdene with the heavy responsibility of negotiating a viable peace.
, -Prepare for Peace is constructive thinking, broad in its scope and fundamental in its nature. In a world gone mad, menaced by international pirates and brigands, it is refreshing and coolly reassuring as to the eventual triumph of the democratic way of life.
Dr. Wriston is President of Brown University. He was a member of the 1941 Hoard of Visitors to the Naval Academy.
AVIATION CADET. By Henry B. Lent. New York: The Macmillan Co. 175 pages. 1941. $1.75.
Reviewed by Lieutenant M. B.
Williams, U. S. Navy
Aviation Cadet follows the career of a typical fledgling from the time he leaves bis college campus until he completes flight training and is ordered to a carrier squadron in the Fleet. It is an interesting story pf a flight student’s life at Pensacola and deludes such highlights as the first solo, a near collision in mid-air, dive bombing, catapult shots, and finally the award of the navy wings.
While written primarily for young People this book contains so much informa- t*°n on the training received by the thousands of college boys who are annually being prepared for duty as commissioned Pilots in the Navy, that it should be of lrderest to all ages. Ground school work, bight instruction in all its stages and in the various types of planes, indoctrination in naval discipline and tradition, recreation, and social life are all accurately described.
With its excellent collection of official navy photographs, the book will be of Particular interest to those young men who are eligible for training under the Cadet Program. Those who are considering enrollment at the various Naval Reserve Air Bases throughout the country may ^ell accept it as their bible.
NATIONAL DEFENSE SOURCEBOOK. By Commander R. E. Lambert, U.S.N.R. Freeport, New York: Readers’ Reference and Research Bureau. No. 1-2, September-October, 1941. 72 pp. Paper. $1.00 copy, $5.00 year.
Reviewed by Lieutenant (j.g.) E. B. Potter, U. S. Naval Reserve
Future historians as well as contemporary writers and speakers will find Commander Lambert’s Sourcebook helpful, for the author has compiled a comprehensive list of current material upon every phase of the nation’s defense effort. The body of the first issue consists of a topical listing, carefully indexed, of recently published books, general bibliographies, manuals, periodicals, columns, articles, bulletins, and pamphlets on the subject of our national defense and preparation for war. Timely the Sourcebook undoubtedly is, for in the hectic period preceding the entry of the United States into World War II, such quantities of material poured from our presses that delay would have rendered the task of preparing such a bibliography far more difficult.
In addition to source materials, Commander Lambert’s book contains a review of national defense trends and a calendar of major defense events in September and October, 1941. By employing a telegraphic style and availing himself freely of abbreviations, the author has crammed into 18 pages a strikingly complete picture of the American scene in the pre-war days. Material so concentrated does not, of course, make for easy reading, but it richly serves its purpose as a source of fact.
SOURDOUGH FLIGHTS. By August E. Koestler and Jesse G. Johnson. Norfolk, Virginia: Privately printed. July, 1941. 60 pages.
Reviewed by Professor Earl W. Thomson, U. S. Naval Academy
Specialization is the aim of any hobbyist who engages in the science of philately. This narrowing and intensification of one’s stamp-collecting pursuits may include adhesives, stamped envelopes, cover collecting, airmails, or almost any combination that the individual may imagine. The present authors, who are aero-philatelists, have listed the various airmail flights of Alaska from the beginning in 1922 to the present. The early flights were unique in that mail was carried by air at the first-class rate of 2ff or to expedite large accumulations of mail.
Between the lines of such a catalogue one reads stories of heroism and of adventure, for the “mail must go through.” This pamphlet includes maps of the 14 different contract routes, the dates of the flights each year, and a price list of collectors’ items. For further listing of general airmail flights and covers the collector should refer to the “American Airmail Catalogue” or the “Standard Airpost Catalogue.” The present pamphlet should be of interest to those engaged in the study of Alaska, its airmail, and its aviation possibilities.
ULTIMA THULE. By Vilhjamur Stefans- son. New York: The Macmillan Co. 1940. 383 pages. Illustrated. $3.50.
Reviewed by Lieutenant Roy de S.
Horn, U. S. Navy (Retired)
Was present-day Iceland, under the name of Thule, first discovered by a Greek explorer named Pytheas away back around 350 b.c.? Did Christopher Columbus know about the Norse settlements in Iceland and beyond long before 1492, and did he actually visit Iceland about 1477?
Vilhjamur Stefansson, the famous arctic explorer and himself of Icelandic descent, devotes his book Ultima Thule to a thorough investigation of these long-standing controversies, and arrives at the conclusion that both Pytheas and Columbus did visit Iceland as claimed.
Stefansson’s investigation goes into a minute analysis of both ancient and modem documents and narratives concerning the discoverers themselves and the actual distances, sea and climatic conditions, and the seaworthiness of the ships involved. Quotations from the Encyclopedia Britan- nica and modern meteorological reports are interspersed with references to such authentic documents as the book of the Irish monk Dicuil, printed in 825, and the circular letter of Pope Alexander VI, written in 1492, which mentions the Catholic bishopric in Greenland in that year. Copies of old maps are distributed throughout the book.
In his role of literary detective, Stefansson makes out an excellent case for his claims. The student will find much to interest him in the book.
ICELAND. The First American Republic- By Vilhjamur Stefansson. New York: Doubleday, Doran & Co., Inc., 1941275 pages. Illustrated. $3.50.
Reviewed by Lieutenant Roy de S.
Horn, U. S. Navy (Retired)
Most Americans have heard vaguely that Leif Ericsson discovered the American mainland in 1000 a.d., 500 years before Columbus saw the West Indies.
In the introduction to his book Iceland, and in his chapter on Iceland and its history, Vilhjamur Stefansson describes Ericsson’s voyage as narrated in original sources, as well as the attempted settlement of Vinland by 160 Icelanders under Thorfinn Karlsefinn, an Icelander like Ericsson himself. He also tells the fascinating story of the earlier Norse discoveries and settlements of Iceland and Greenland themselves.
Equally interesting are the studies o Iceland as the first American republic, with its government by general assembly* its trial by jury, and its fire and mutua insurance systems 300 years before the signing of the Magna Charta.
Ihe chapter on the Icelandic sagas and histories, these latter being the only authentic histories of the world during the Medieval Period, also presents unusual in- ormation to the students of literature and history. The student of sociology, as well as the general reader, will find worthwhile reading in the portion of the book devoted to modern Iceland, its population, social Welfare system, and climate and scenery.
Stefansson, the arctic explorer, proves himself as adept with a pen as with snow- shoes and dogsled in this study of the first democracy in the New World.
THE WAR: SECOND YEAR. By Edgar Mclnnis. Toronto: Oxford University Press. 1941. 318 pages. $2.00.
Reviewed by Commander E. E. Hazlett, U. S. Navy (Retired)
Should a visitor from Mars alight unexpectedly on this planet and request enlightenment on what has happened in World War II it is doubtful if he could find a more complete and accurate account han is contained in this volume and its Predecessor. Professor Mclnnis, of the University of Toronto, has undertaken to record history in the making and has been hotably successful; he has achieved as de- ached a viewpoint as could be reasonably expected from such close contact and he Presents his subject in its broad aspects, 1111 cluttered with too much detail.
His account was originally published quarterly, sponsored by the Canadian Institute of International Affairs, and so falls into periods of three months each; these are further divided into phases, each principal operation being covered in one section. This system works out successfully and avoids much confusion. His style is clear and vigorous, more reportorial than professorial. The selection of maps, however, might well be improved on.
The author slights no angles of the war but gives full coverage of its political, diplomatic, military, and naval aspects. He is fully alive to the importance of sea power and the sections on the war in the Mediterranean and the destruction of the Bismarck are among his best. His account of Russo-German relations and the causes of Hitler’s attack on Russia is the most thorough and well-reasoned treatment this writer has been privileged to read. That he has made a valiant attempt to be objective may be judged by his scathing account of the debacle in Crete and his well-taken criticism of the Atlantic Charter.
The volume is replete with a Documentary Appendix (quoting the texts of important treaties, Lend-Lease Act, Atlantic Charter, etc.), a Chronology of the year and a copious Index. While it contains little that is new to a naval officer who keeps abreast of the times, it has real value as a reference work and as a refresher course in current events.