− N Y Evening Post p10 N 20 ’20 170w N Y Times p26 Ja 2 ’21 330w
“‘W. H. Rainsford’ adopts a method that irresistibly recalls the seaside acrobat courting attention by means of ridiculous somersaults as a prelude to the display of more special powers. These affectations being suddenly discarded, to reappear only intermittently, it becomes possible to take a mild—a very mild—interest in the fortunes of Philip Gray.”
− + The Times [London] Lit Sup p583 S 9 ’20 510w
RAINSFORD, WALTER KERR. From Upton to the Meuse with the Three hundred and seventh infantry. il *$2 (4c) Appleton 940.373
20–2288
The volume is a history of the 77th division and of the 307th regiment. This division Colonel J. R. R. Hannay in the introduction calls the cosmopolitan division of New York city, “New York’s own.” He also states that this division consisting of men unused to the sturdy activity of outdoor life conducted itself as the most perfectly trained and disciplined army in the world. The sketches and photographs in the book are of the best, the author being a graduate from the École des beaux arts, Paris, in 1911. Besides the introduction by Colonel Hannay, the foreword by General Alexander, and two poems by the author, the contents are: Camp Upton; With the British; Lorraine; The chateau du diable; Across the Vesle; Merval; Sheets and bandages; The forest of Argonne; The dépôt de machines; The surrounded battalion; Grand Pré; The advance to the Meuse; The home trail; Appendix.
“Very telling photographs and drawings which suggest a beauty which is the antithesis of war.”
+ Booklist 16:238 Ap ’20 + Boston Transcript p11 Ap 24 ’20 850w + Cath World 112:116 O ’20 370w + Outlook 125:223 Je 2 ’20 200w
“Captain Rainsford has succeeded in making his narrative clear, expressive, and entertaining—thanks in good part to a never failing sense of humor. We must give credit, too, for his having provided the maps necessary to follow his narrative—a too unusual provision in books about the war.”