+ Survey 44:121 Ap 17 ’20 850w The Times [London] Lit Sup p407 Je 24 ’20 150w
“The chapter on the Russian soviet constitution is far and away the ablest and clearest statement yet given to us upon that very important subject. Mr Ward is to be envied for his twofold gift of grasping details and of strong speculative thinking; and this combination makes his book a singularly valuable and safe guide for the student.” R. R.
+ World Tomorrow 3:157 My ’20 150w
WARD, JOHN. With the “Die-hards” in Siberia. *$2.50 (3c) Doran 957
20–7944
The author commanded a detachment of British troops sent to Siberia to support Kolchak. He blames his own government for its halfhearted support of the enterprise it had undertaken, and is especially bitter against the Americans and the Japanese. The book was written, he says, “for the private use of my sons in case I did not return.” Among the chapters are: From Hong Kong to Siberia; Bolshevik successes; Japanese methods and Allied Far-eastern policy; Administration; Omsk; Along the Urals; Russian labour; In European Russia; American policy and its results; Japanese policy and its results; General conclusions. There is an index.
“Colonel Ward is too innocent for a propagandist. We knew Colonel Ward had been no nearer to Moscow than had we in London, but we have received an impression that in far-away Siberia he fought desperately against the Red armies. Why did the coalition permit their friend to write a book and give the show away so completely? We find that Colonel Ward never met the disciplined armies of Trotsky, and, except for one engagement, the whole campaign was a series of affairs with Bolshevik bands.”
− Nation [London] 27:78 Ap 17 ’20 480w
“Colonel Ward’s book is bound to furnish material for controversy. His narrative is couched in a style that is the acme of plain speaking; he wastes no time in euphemisms or diplomatic circumlocution, but fearlessly handles facts as they come to him. From all internal evidence his book has the air of a straightforward, truthful narrative.”