History of the Great War, based on Official Documents By Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence: Naval Operations

Abstract

THIS important volume, the first of a series which is expected to run to four or five volumes, is described on its cover as the “official history of the war.” This description is modified within by the explanation that, though it is based on official documents inaccessible to the general public, its views and opinions are those of its author alone, for which the Admiralty accepts no responsibility. This explanation unquestionably diminishes the official nature of the publication; but, on the other hand, it immensely increases its historic interest and its scientific value. For Sir Julian Corbett is a master of naval lore; he is deeply versed in the strategy and the tactics of the great captains of the old days. Consequently he has come td the study and interpretation of the masses of information concerning the late war laid before him by the Government with a splendid reserve of knowledge and with a perfected apparatus of criticism, and it is eminently satisfactory to be assured that he has had a perfectly free hand in dealing with his material and in drawing his conclusions