21 JUNE 1930, Page 31

Mr. Arthur Birnie's courageous attempt at An Economic History of

Europe, .1760-1930 (Methuen, 10s. 6d.) deserves commendation because it is coming to be realized that our commercial and industrial troubles are not peculiar to England but are, to some extent at least, paralleled on the Continent, and that some questions like that of coal `cannot be solved by any one nation- independently. Mr. Birnie's treatment of a vast subject is necessarily superficial, but he contrives to give a general view of the industrial revolution in Europe and to

discuss the Socialist movement and the varied efforts to relieve the strain of the new order by co-operation and insur- ance and by combines -and trusts. The book is open to criticism in detail, but as a whole it is decidedly interesting.

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