A bibliography of English military books up to 1642 and of ...

embodied and disciplined the famous " New Model " in the spring
of 1645.
It is
natural, therefore, that all our early English military books,
with very few exceptions, are echoes from the great wars of the
continent. We need only except the works of the last advocates
of archery, such as Sir John Smythe and William Neade, the
author of that fantastic publication, " The Double-armed Man "
(1625). All other writers sought their inspiration from the continent,
and Mr. Cockle has therefore compiled a bibliography of
foreign authors on the Art of War, in whose works the original
material of books published on this side of the Channel is so often
to be found. Any survey of the history of English w^arcraft would
be incomplete without a notice of them. The labour involved in
this part of the work is
not less than that required for the construction
of the English sedtion : it is true that in the latter Mr. Cockle
had no forerunners and was compelled to begin ab initio, whereas
several good continental bibliographies already exist.
But, on the
other hand, the bulk of the foreign works is considerably larger, and
the British Museum Library, in spite of its wealth, is naturally not
so complete in its collection of books published overseas as in that
of our national authors.
C. Oman.
Oxford^ July, 1900.
Vlll