24 APRIL 1959, Page 29

Serbian Legacy. By Cecil Stewart. (Allen and Unwin, 42s.) Cecil

Stewart's Byzantine Legacy, which is a classic and has just been deservedly reprinted, concerned itself with Constantinople, Greece and Italy. His latest book reveals that the richest of all Byzantine treasure-houses is Yugo- slavia and, more particularly, Serbia : 'nowhere in the Byzantine world is there such a wealth of material within such a relatively small area; nowhere so many churches, so much painting.' Moreover, the churches are often melodramati- cally situated, as the fine photographs bear witness. This is a book about buildings and frescoes, but its author is a historian and a wit : it will delight discerning travellers to these romantic and now increasingly visited Balkan hills.