A WREATH TO CLIO

It is always a pleasure to read John Wheeler-Bennett. He writes with an easy, uncluttered style. Whether what he writes is always significant is another question, perhaps best left unanswered in light of this volume which consists of a dozen essays on American, English and German history. Except for a few vague insights on Lee's strategy leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg, his pieces on the Civil War will not intrigue the American historian. The German historian will not be excited by his discussions of the German military leaders and post World War I diplomacy with Russia. While his English studies, dealing with the Crown, the Empire, and the Commonwealth reveal a little of the historical craft one generally associates with the author, on the whole the volume is disappointing.