BY ORDER OF THE SHAH By H. W. and Sidney
I:147
An up-to-date travel book on Iran (lately Persia) is certainly needed, so rapidly have conditions changed in a country which will doubtless soon be on the tourist track. But H. W. and Sidney Hay, the joint authors of this book (Cassell, 15s.), have not filled the gap, in spite of the "decided contemporary and future value" which the publishers optimistically claim for it. The first half of the book is a narrative of travel, and contains an amusing, though sketchy, commentary on the more obvious sights of Iran, or rather of western Iran. The authors journeyed as companions to an anonynous Distinguished Person- age, probably the then Sir John Cadman, and so were able to overcome most of the usual police obstacles to rapid progress. Another 'compankin was a Persian prince; into whose Mouth has been put a hotch-potch of unlikely tales. The second, and scarcely more serious half of the book is a summary of Iran's crowded history and present political situation and is of very doubtful value. The authors' knowledge of their authorities, for example Herodotus, is hazy, and a reader who knew no Persian history would obtain •from them a most ill-proportioned view. Both parts are written in a jerky and would-be " popular " style which conceals a fair amount of useful and usually accurate information. There is a valuable Appen- dix on Ways and Means for the traveller, an inadequate bibliography, and an excellent collection of photographs, which for some reason are all packed together at the end of the book.
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