21 MAY 1927, Page 18

Two crime books which will probably have a wide public

are the Trial of Madeleine Smith (" Notable British Trials," William Hodge. 10s. Od.) and World-Famous Crimes (Blcs. 16s.). The former has the benefit of an introduction by that brilliant writer, Miss Tennyson Jesse. She makes the story of Madeleine, who was said to have poisoned her lover with arsenic, an interesting study of a woman of strong physical pas- sion, born in dreary and conventional mid-Victorian surround- ings, Mr. Mackenzie, who tells us of Landru, Leopold and Loch, Rasputin, the murder of the Czar and other crimes of great horror, writes all too well for his subject. As far as one can see his book serves no good purpose. Quite as sensational, but utterly different in style and treatment and purpose, is Judge Ben Lindsay's The Revolt of Modern Youth (Boni and Liveright. $3.00), which deals with the misdemeanours and mistakes of those who have come before the Juvenile Court of Denver. This is an important work in many ways and deserves a fuller treatment than can be given here.