BRITISH INSTITUTIONS OF TODAY
By T. K. Derry
This book (Longmans, 3s. 6d.) was written by the present thad-master of Mill Hill when he was Civics Master at Repton, and reading it must certainly make one envy the author's pupils. It is intended " to give the Sixth Form pupil a clear idea of the public life in which he or she must learn to play a part," and " to interest the general reader who wishes to get behind the facade of the constitution." Published, as it was, in 1937 it is admirably designed to sup- plement or, as some would say, correct impressions of the character of our public life formed from the ceremonial and pageantry of which the Monarchy is the centre. Where he covers ground which is likely to be fairly familiar to his readers, Mr. Derry is clear, concen- trated and concise ; but the special merit of the book, perhaps, lies in the treatment of local government and the relations between central and local authorities—subjects which are generally equally little understood either by Sixth Form pupils or their parents. The book should be both read and expounded in a critical spirit, for it has some of the vices as well as all the virtues of sim- plicity : a fact which is brought to light particularly clearly by the author's under-estimate of the importance of the suspensive veto of the House of Lords. But what book should not be read critically ? The author has succeeded in writing a book which should be found equally useful in the class-room and in the library. - Its scope, comprising as it does not only.chapters on the King, the Cabinet, Parliament and the Voter but also on. the Empire and International Relations, is very wide, and deals in outline with all the essentials of the subject.
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