24 JULY 1897, Page 25

A History of the Hebrew People. By Charles Foster Kent.

(Smith, Elder, and Co.)—This is a useful little volume, containing, in an easily assimilated form, many of the results of recent criticism. Dr. Kent is not destructive, and he is certainly not reactionary. When a writer recognises 80 fully as he does the divine mission of the Hebrew people, it matters little what his views as to this or that document and incident may be. The period included in this volume begins with the settlement in Canaan, and ends with the division of the kingdom. A serviceable list of books of reference is added. We should hardly have described Robertson Smith's books as "based upon the old traditional view of the sources."