“It is really nothing more than a compilation of the facts that may be found in condensed form in a half dozen well selected books.”
| + — | Ind. 58: 1070. My. 11, ‘05. 170w. |
“When we turn to subjects wherein the element of time does not enter so immediately we find reason for little save praise.”
| + + — | Lit. D. 31: 498. O. 7, ‘05. 760w. |
“An elaborate account of Italy, worked out with true German thoroughness. It covers pretty nearly every aspect in which the land and its inhabitants can be regarded. Taking the book as a whole, it is a careful and intelligent piece of work, clearly and simply written, and generally accurate. We have noted a certain number of errors in fact, but none of great importance, though there are some errors in nomenclature, and some mistakes in the accounts given of particular places. A book which amounts to an encyclopaedic description of Italy from so many points of view. The topographical part is really something between a gazetteer and a guidebook, fit to be used for reference rather than to be read continuously.”
| + + + | Nation. 80: 250. Mr. 30, ‘05. 2290w. |
Deeping, Warwick. Slanderers. [†]$1.50. Harper.
“Gabriel Strong is the son of a tea merchant ... is a dreamer, an idler.... Partly to please himself, partly to please his father, partly to save trouble, he makes love to and marries a fine sleek tiger-cat of a woman, and as soon as it is too late repents.” He finds that he loves the daughter of a miser, but swears to love this Joan only in spirit. “Meanwhile the sleek, handsome wife gets bored, goes off elsewhere, and the gossips of the village get busy with the greenwood meanderings of Gabriel and Joan. Hence the name of ‘The slanderers.’ ... They are the parson’s wife, the doctor’s wife, the members of the church guilds, and like fine charitable organizations. And these women are allowed no virtues at all to temper the malignity of their tongues and their feminine proneness to think evil of other people.” (N. Y. Times).
“The style is good and the texture of the English is durable.”
| + | Critic. 47: 93. Jl. ‘05. 110w. |