20 NOVEMBER 1926, Page 45

net.)---As a concise narrative of the greatest /L and most dramatic episode

in modern history, this excellent book is to be 'warnilY commended. It is based on long and thorough studies of the evidence which French experts have amassed, it is on the whole dispassionate in tone, and it is uncommonly readable. The author expressly omits any discussion of the causes of the Revolution and thus suggests that to some extent it was not organized by various factions. Mirabeau is, perhaps, judged too harshly in his secret dealings with the Court, and the Constituent Assembly is overpraised. But on these and other details opinions will always differ. The author shows clearly how the Revolution " devoured its children." France had to pay dearly for the horrible massacres of these bitter years: The book is admirable, and the famous episodes, especially the fall of Robespierre, are as thrilling as ever.