17 JANUARY 1914, Page 28

Royal Spain of To-day. By Tryphosa Bates Batcheller. (Longmans and

Co. 25s. net.)—The author of several highly successful hooks on Italy, Mrs. Batcheller has now turned her attention to a less trodden field. Her new work describes a journey through Spain which she was privileged to make in

the company of H.R.H. the Infanta Eulalia. In these cir- cumstances Mrs. Batcheller naturally gained " rare and highly unusual opportunities for observation among the people, as well as among the higher classes of society." She gives an interesting account of modern Spain, and of those in whose hands the destinies of the country lie to-day. "Anyone who knows anything of the King of Spain knows that his dominant characteristic is the conscientious desire to leave nothing undone which he may do or cause to be done for the benefit, progress, and improvement of his country."