Miscellany

Abstract

THIS is a semi-philosophic discussion upon the possible methods of waging war in the future, bearing in mind the uses made of aircraft in the late War, and endeavouring to visualise their probable development by the time the next war breaks out. The reader is left, as it is suspected the author himself is, somewhat breathless, if not entirely drowned, in the sea of argument and counter-argument. The conclusion that appears to emerge from the welter of facts intermixed with visions is that the use of aircraft plus radio communication will so radically alter methods of war that it is impossible to foresee what will happen. In the absence of this knowledge, it is absurd to prepare for a limited number of possibilities only, and impossible to be ready for every one, because of the magnitude of the task. This is rather hard on the professional fighters, who are apparently preparing for a war to be fought on lines similar to the last one, not so much out of ignorance or lack of vision, as because it is the only concrete thing that they have to work upon.

Armadas of the Sky: the Problem of Armaments.

By Paul Murphy. Pp 120. (London: The Houghton Publishing Co., 1931.) 5s. net.