John Still was captured by the Turks in Gallipoli in 1915, and remained in captivity for over three years, during which he found it essential to have some absorbing mental occupation to preserve his sanity. He discovered in himself then, for the first time, the power of writing verse. For many years before the war he lived in Ceylon, and the latter part of the book is taken up with poems on its peoples and lost cities, the first part containing the poems inspired by captivity.
_Morning Post._--“The poems have a quiet power that grows on the reader.”
_Illustrated London News._--“One of the most interesting books of war-verse which have yet appeared.”
_Outlook._--“‘The Ballad of Suvla Bay’ is among the finest poems of the war.”
_Daily Graphic._--“Mr. Still has an unusual command of varied form.”
_Book Monthly._--“Mr. Still’s verse is charged with the full ripening of poetic harvest.”
_Pall Mall Gazette._--“Mr. Still is distinctly happy in expression, and his work has a very real interest.”
_Bookman._--“Mr. Still is a poet of considerable worth.”
_Ladies’ Field._--“It contains very splendid verse. The strength and simplicity of them will appeal to a big public.”
JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD, VIGO ST., W. 1
_Being an Account of how two prisoners of War at Yozgad in Turkey won their way to freedom._
By E. H. JONES, Lieut. Indian Army Reserve
With Illustrations by C. W. HILL, Lieut. R.A.F.
This book, besides being an extraordinary story, will specially appeal to every one who is interested in spiritualism. It tells in minute and exact detail how two young British officers, who previously knew nothing of the subject, took up spiritualism--originally to amuse their fellow-prisoners in a Turkish prison camp; how they afterwards convinced not only the Turkish officials of their mediumistic powers, but even their fellow-officers; how eventually the “spook” ran the camp, securing many privileges for the inmates, and finally nearly effected the escape of the mediums and kidnapped the Turkish Governor and Interpreter. Afterwards the two officers feigned madness so effectually that they were repatriated on compassionate grounds as insane, and had some difficulty in convincing the British authorities of their sanity. The book reads like a wild romance, but it is authenticated in every detail by fellow-officers and official documents. The Turkish Governor was actually court-martialled for his part in a treasure hunt instituted by the “spook”; and since the Armistice the authors have received letters from Turkish officials asking them to return and persist in the search for the hidden treasure.