NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19132, 15 October 1927, Page 15

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

MODERN EUROPE. Bnrojxs in tb» Nineteenth Century. By A. J. Onnt, M.A., and Harold Temperley, 1 LIU. D. Longmans, Green and Co. To write history in the light of what happened afterwards is supposed to be a trap always avoided by reputable historians, but Professor Grant and Dr. Temperley have traced the history of Europe from the French Eevolution down to the present time with their eyes always on the Great War and the League of Nations, and have produced a work more valuable than a host of academic histories. In another twenty years the book will probably be disregarded, not because it is in any way unsound, but because it was Written in an attempt to bring home to the generation of to-day the lesson that the history of the previous century and a half holds for them. For most of us the memories of the Groat War are so near and so terrible that it appears only as a flat and horrible picture, without or perspective. Professor Grant and Dr. Temperley, by showing the significance of modern European history in relation to the Great War, .have provided the background to our picture. The first chapters, dealing With the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon, and the collapse of the old fabric of Europe, at-e evidently the Work of Professor Grant, and those familiar with his "French Monarchy" will need no assurance of their excellence. The .writer draws in bold outlines, striving above all to show the new forces that the Revolution and Napoleon loosed in world politics. The Congress period, particularly interesting as the first great attempt at intei-natinal government before the League of Nations, is j dealt with by Dr. Temperley, who judges its failure in the light of the comparative success of the League of Nations. "The Congress system died/* j he says, "because despotism was not j reconcilable. With the opposed system of parliamentary freedom; the League i of Nations lives because it harmonises the interests and softens the prejudices ! of all sorts of systems, of Fascist Italy, of Mohammedan' Persia, of direct democratic, Switzerland, of representaI tive parliamentary England. True internationalism consists not in the imposition of uniformity, but ill ■ the tolerance of variety. Judged by these .tests the Congress system died for the very reason that the League lives." The next section of the book traces the rise Of French, German, and Euß* sian Imperialism down to 1870) and Rafter that the reader begins definitely to pick Up the threads that lead to the Great Wan The actual and immediate causes of the conflict, after the crises of Algeciras, Bosnia, and Agadir, are, of -course, Still" a matter of controversy, and the authors, tread very carefully orer this ground. They do show, however, that the Balkan aspect bi the'Wai 1 is more important than most of Us imagine, and that the Serajevo affair was more than ft, chance' match in the powder magazine. One is also tempted to conclude that the RUssiah Government, with the mitt- j revolution already in its ears, .acted with & t tragic tack of re* spohsibility, believing wrongly that War "Would strengthen its position. The lleavie&t blahle goes to the Austrian Government, which "accused the Serbian Government of s complicity- in the plot, When all the evidence to hand showed that they Were guiltless." Austria, it is asserted, misled Germany as to the facts of the case, which may possibly have believed that Serbia Was guilty ■. But the authors point Out that."the real question raikedby the story of the last five weeks before the war is not whether war eouid- have been averted, but whether the preceding situation h&d made the war ceiv tain?" They refer to the comment of Colonel House that the situation Was one of militarism run stark mad) and add; "Tins' impression from over the water is deepened by all that We See between February and June, the councils of Russia's Government, the threats in her Press, the increases lii her army, artd : in that of Germany ( and France, the, contest. between En- ! ten to and Alliance for the favours of Romania England's naval centernations With .tlUßsia, Mbltke'B Words that the sooner the war came the better for Germany, and finally, the secret but dtaihoUS preparations by . AustriaHungary for a final reckoning With Serbia." Of. the treatment of the League, of Nations, some indication has already beeh given, but the closing Words of the book deserve quoting: "As we balance hopes against fears, Wo irtay derive some comfort from the study of history,' which shows that seme such organisation as is giVeti. by the League is at once necessary, rea« sonable, and possible." But We are warned also that the League "Will not triumph unless it receives the support of all who see beyond the limits of the national state." ■ .. t i ■ ■ It Is hard to speak critically of a book of which the ..style is so cleaf and so graceful,-but it will perhaps, appeal 1 to some readers that the co-ordination betWeeh the two authors is not a 8 complete as it might,have been. In several instances Professor Grant' and Dn Temperley go over the Same ground and write of the same incidents from different 'points of view, and while there is never a - contradiction of fact, this, makes uneven going for a layman, , A minor point presence of several taispfihts, which a more careful reading of the proofs would have eliminated. PROM COWBOYS TO SAiLOftS* T»e Slafck BiodflHottna. By tarfehaai Bishop, Mills and Boon. If we may judge "by the increasing number of sea stories being published at present, popular taste is Veering a little from cbWboyS to sailors. This story ,is a good pirate yarn. . "The Slack Bloodhound" Was a notorious pirate tfhd sailed the Cuban Main as recently Jfc 1825. He earned his name by his habit of going into action masked (md/wearing black gloves. For a long time no one had any trustworthy clue to his identity, though the reader is .Boon given to understand that, only a SpanI iaf d could have invented the. devilish. ' tortures to" which he subjected baptitoners, The plot is interwoven with the adventures of an«rfAmericah nayal priee crew which boarded a burning ship devastated and deserted by; the pirates. Some of the characters haw highly picturesque names and swear oaths to match. . , ' ,», (Through Sands and MfeDdUgaln HIGHLY MORAL. the Joy dirt. By M»y Edginton. OateuU aatt Co. This book is a light little 10V& story, the scene of Which is laid in anti around London. Jewel Courage Waft a member of that stratum. of English society known as "lower middle-olaftj. She was pretty, selfish, and vain, had been brought Up to think only of her oft* beauty, and naturally lengea for the luxurious life of the aristocracy. She married a masquerading chauffeur, thinking he had money. On the Wedding day he discovered that She Was not the heiress he thought, and deserted her—a misfortune that brought her to her senses, though of course not soon enough to rfth the reader of a good story; The book ends on the hippy note reserved .in moral romances for reformed sinners. (Through Whitcombe and 9?ombs.) LOcfiE REPftWtS.; Simon tke Jester. SteU« BtxrU. Br WttMmS.Uttt. fnTfi6dl*y &4M. Since W.--.JF.-. Locke tan uimaliy h* relied on for a pleasant story Abo-at