It has often been prophesied that the advance of science will make war impossible. Even now nations are less inclined than formerly to embark lightly on hostilities, and when means are found to annihilate a whole army in five minutes, it may well be that none of the ordinary inducements will prove strong enough to bring about a breach of the peace. Stockton gives us a sketch of a future war between Great Britain and the United States, in which such newly-discovered engines of destruction are brought to bear for the first time. It is conceived with very great ingenuity, and told with unflazging spirit and an air of naturalness that carries the reader on with increasing interest from the first page till the last.