17 OCTOBER 1931, Page 28

THE GREATEST OF THESE (by Nikolai Gubsky : Elkin Mathews

and Marrot, 7s. 6d.) is the story of a Russian family on the eve of the War. The characters—the innocent-passionate heroine, her matter-of-fact sisters, her rake of a father, and her religiously resigned mother— are cast in conventional moulds, but all have a touch of individuality and freshness.