eginner, extraordinarily dangerous method as a
model, but rubs it in (stout fellow!) by transplanting his hero to India,
seemingly in order to have excuse for writing a passage which one would say
was obviously inspired by that gorgeous description of the jungle in _The
Research Magnificent_. Mr. BARKER has enough matter for two (or three)
novels and enough skill in portraiture to make them more coherent and
plausible than this. The theme is old but freshly seen. _Tom Seton_,
resolved to avoid risking for his beloved the unhappiness which his mother
had found in the bondage of marriage, offers her--indeed imposes on her--a
free union. How the pressure of _The Great Leviathan_ (_Mrs. Grundy_--well,
that's not perhaps quite the whole of the idea, but it will serve) drove
her into the shelter of a formal marriage with a devoted don, I leave you
to gather. I don't think the author quite succeeds in making _Mary's_
defection inevitable, nor do I see the significance of the apparently quite
irrelevant background of Indian philosophy and intrigue. But here's a
well-written book, with sound positive qualities outweighing the defects of
inexperience.

* * * * *

Captain ALAN BOTT ("Contact") has a literary gift of a high order, the gift
of getting the very last thrill out of his experiences while telling his
tale in the simplest and most straightforward way. In _Eastern Nights_
(BLACKWOOD) he describes his adventures as a prisoner of the Turks, first
in Damascus and Asia Minor and finally in Constantinople. The narrative,
which is purely one of action, the action being supplied by the efforts,
finally successful, of the author and various brother-officers to escape
from their most unattractive captivity, nevertheless offers a most vivid
picture of the social fabric of the Near East and in particular of the
attitude of the _melange_ of Oriental peoples that comprised the Turkish
Empire towards the War in which they found themselves taking part, most of
them with reluctance and all inefficiently. Apathy rather than calculated
brutality was chiefly responsible for the hardships suffered by the
prisoners of war of all nations who were unfortunate enough to fall into
Turkish hands. From the point of view of an officer determined to escape,
however, the prevalence of this quality was not without its advantage. Most
of the officials (Turks and Germans excepted) with whom Captain BOTT and
his fellow-office