Shorter Notices
Russia and Britain. By Edward Crankshaw. (Collins. 8s. 6d.)
THIS short book gives a vivid account of contacts between Britain and Russia since Chancellor stumbled into Archangel in 1553 and so came to the court of Ivan the Terrible. The early period is based primarily on Hakluyt's Voyages which, very understandably, had great fascination for the author and tell a story which is all too little known. This material is so rich that the rest of the book inevitably suffers by comparison, and one longs to know more about Nicholas Alfery, the nephew of Boris Godunov, who became a quiet English parson, and about Peter the Great's three months sojourn in Dept- ford to learn shipbuilding. But the story is one which has not been told before and is well worth reading. Mr. Crankshaw's obvious affection for the Russians—he quotes with approval Maurice Baring's remark that " there is more humanity and more kindness in Russia than in any other European country "—does not conceal his reservl- dons about some aspects of the present regime, and his deep under- standing enables him to outline with much sympathy the differences in the mental make-up and background of the two peoples. Recogni tion of these, as he says, is the first step towards understanding ; similarities will look after themselves. This book is a valuabl. addition to the " Nations and Britain " series.
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