15 FEBRUARY 1930, Page 31

Mr. Basil Oliver has written The Cottages of England (Batsford,

21s.) at the request of the. Royal Society of Arts, in the hope of encouraging the movement for preserving this neglected portion of our heritage. His exposition of the nature of this inheritance is both comprehensive and readable, if the reader is not one to be frightened by a technical expression here and there. To the true amateur of the subject such a chapter heading as " Timber-Framed, Clay Lump, Cob and Stone Cottages . . . " w;11 be an induce- ment in itself, especially as the author gives admirably simple explanations of all such terms. The ninety-nine superb plates are alone worth the price. A party of English people to whom the reviewer introduced the book spent a whole afternoon, singly and in groups, examining and discussing these alone. The preface is appropriately written by Mr. Baldwin, the most English of our present politicians.