It is apparent, then, that Mr. Belloc brings to a task which the mass of
the English public is quite incapable of undertaking for itself peculiar
advantages, in that he has combined with a long and careful study of
military history a thorough technical knowledge of military science.

In addition to this major and essential qualification he possesses, as
the outcome of his pursuits and experience, other minor and subsidiary
though still very necessary qualifications. In this war, as in all wars
of the past, the lie of country and the fatigue of men are two of the
weightiest factors; and Mr. Belloc is enormously assisted in attempting
a nice appreciation of these factors by the knowledge acquired in the
long pursuit of his topographical tastes and by his practical experience
in the ranks of the French army.

On this latter point too much insistence should not be laid, though to
ignore it entirely would be as foolish as to exaggerate its importance.
We may best assess its value, perhaps, by saying that Mr. Belloc has
been in possession for more than twenty years of certain definite
knowledge which the vast majority of Englishmen have only acquired in
the past year. More than twenty years ago he learnt the elementary rules
of military organization and the ordinary facts of army life which are
common knowledge in conscript countries. In England we have remained
ignorant of these facts. Many of us have learnt them for the first time
since August, 1914; many of us, though we have come to a consciousness
of them, will never learn them. In a passage in _A General Sketch of the
European War_, in which Mr. Belloc exposes "the fundamental contrast
between the modern German military temper and the age-long traditions of
the French service," though he brings into play much information that
he has doubtless acquired in more recent years, we can see shining
through, the memory of early experiences.

This contrast [he says] appears in everything, from tactical
details to the largest strategical conception, and from things so
vague and general as the tone of military writings, to things so
particular as the instruction of the conscript in his barrack-room.
The German soldier is taught--or was--that victory was inevitable,
and would be as swift as it would be triumphant; the French soldier
was taught that he had before him a terrible and doubtful ordeal,
one that would be long, one in which he ra