For one thing it is free from the mosquitoes that spoil so
many books of travel, while the people are peaceful, reasonably
contented and not liable to jar on the reader's nerves, in the
time-honoured fashion, with spears and poisoned arrows. Even the yaks,
that one had supposed to be fearsome beasts, are mild benevolent
pacifists. The authors do not suggest that it is all Paradise, of
course, though for the Moslem there may be something of that sort in it.
"Praise be to Allah! I have four obedient wives, who spend all their
days in trying to please me," said a Kirghiz farmer to Sir Percy. But
even Paradise may be a matter of taste.
* * * * *
If _War in the Garden of Eden_ (Murray) cannot be numbered among the
books which must be read by a serious war-student it is in its
unassuming way very attractive. Captain Kermit Roosevelt made many
friends while serving as a Captain with the Motor Machine-Gun Corps in
Mesopotamia, and here he reveals himself as a keen soldier and a
pleasant companion. In style he is perhaps a shade too jerky; his
frequent failure to make his connections gives one a sense of being in
the hands of a rather rambling guide.
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