ENGLAND. By Frank Fox.
The task of describing England was for good reason given to a visitor to the Mother Country. It will be found that Mr. Frank Fox has done his work well. A stranger to England will have his attention drawn to the features of her life which are most characteristic: residents in England will find interest in studying an impression of their country from a sympathetic Australian observer. Within a very small compass there is a bright living picture of England, her history, her institutions, her people, her green country-side, her historic monuments.
FRANCE. By Gordon Home.
Mr. Gordon Home's chapters cover many aspects of French life, and give the reader a comprehensive vision of the land from Boulogne to Mentone and Bayonne. Political life, home life in town and country, the duel, marriage arrangements, the navy, architecture, the doctor, the priest, the midinette, the constitution, the great rivers, the watering-places, hunting, vine-growing, and school life are a few of the many topics that come in orderly sequence in the book. After reading the volume and studying the pictures, even those who know France well will probably understand some aspects of it more clearly, and those who have yet to cross the English Channel will go there understanding much that might otherwise puzzle them.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. By G. E. Mitton.
It was through Austria-Hungary that the great crisis in Europe arose. Yet how few people know anything about the country, although both in the matter of national history and scenery Austria-Hungary is well worth considering. Its story of romance, its scenery is not behind any in Europe, though, except for the Tyrol and the Dolomites, it is far from well known. In the reconstruction of political frontiers which will necessarily follow the War, the races of the Dual Monarchy will have to be taken into account, and it is essential to know something of them if we would be abreast of the times.
Published by A. & C. BLACK, Ltd., 4, 5, & 6 Soho Square, London, W.