The French Revolution as told by Contemporaries. Compil e d by E.
L. Higgins. (Harrap. los. 6d.) A MOST excellent idea has gone • to the making of this compilation: No decade . in history has produced such an incredible mass of literature as that of the French Revolution. Scarcely one of the survivors restrained himself from writing a book of memoirs; and few were content with less than three volumes. Mr. Higgins has pieced these voluminous sources together on a lucid synoptic system, while keeping the whole within a reasonable compass. The works upon which he has drawn would fill a good-sized book. shop. They range in importance from the pathetic recollee. tions of the King's valet to the memoirs of Barras, in period from Rousseau and Voltaire down to Lucien Bonaparte, and in point of view from the conservatism of Gouverneur Morris or Weber to the brisk extremism of Petion. It is not easy r.tading to switch abruptly from one style to another and from one opinion to its opposite; but the selection and arrangement are admirable, and the book is not only valuable but extremely cheap.
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