22 JULY 1922, Page 22

The July number of History (Macmillan, 2s. net), the quarterly

journal of the Historical Association, should be widely read for the sake of the paper on " History and Philosophy," by Dr. Ernest Barker, Principal of King's College. Like Croce's recent book, it marks a strong reaction against the so-called scientific school of history, in which research is magnified at the expense of principles. Dr. Barker, in the true spirit of the Oxford- " Greats," offers as a paradox the proposition that—" It is Pericles and not Bismarck who is really modern, because it is he who is our nearest spiritual kin. It is •Greece of the fifth century before Christ and not Prussia in the nineteenth century of the Christian era which is present in the spirit of this age as its analogue and inspiration. If we would study contemporary history, we must study the history of classical Greece." There is undoubtedly much truth in this contention, though it need not be construed too literally.