17 MARCH 1973, Page 16

Shorter notice

The Hidden Navy Evelyn Berckman (Hamish Hamilton £3.00). For the social historian, the Public Record Office seems to be an inexhaustible fount. Evelyn Berckman provides what the publishers describe as a postscript to the annals of the Navy: female stowaways, naval prostitutes, crooked trade practices in the dockyards, odd passengers and odder cargoes. There are several plates including an amusing Rowlandson cartoon

of a sailor coming with his whore to a discreet notice above a doorway that reads 'Lodgings for Single Men and their Wives.' A rag-bag collection, but an interesting one.

C.T.