22 JUNE 1951, Page 28

Shorter Notices

THIS remarkable compilation is irresistible. Its bulky weight may at first seem somewhat forbidding —it is impossible, however, to read three pages of it without becoming absorbed. One begins by dipping at random. but soon finds it impossible to come upon any paragraph that does not fascinate, amuse and inform. One finds it difficult to imagine how the headings were chosen, for so much ground is covered that one's brain reels to think how much else must have been sifted and rejected. Every possible aspect of the theatre is examined in turn, and to anyone interested in its history, construction, per- sonalities and superstitions there t§ endless matter, both in fact and anecdote, and a mass of brilliantly presented information.

JonN GIELGUD