26 OCTOBER 1929, Page 45

Mr. Henry Baerlein . has a .ityle of his own

and. a world of his own, so naturally, when he goes In Search of Slovakia (Brentano, 7s. 6d.), he finds a Slovakia of his own. We have no quarrel with him for that. The country is even mildly entertaining, if if can be judged from the people Mr. Baerlein met and the adventures he had with them, though one or two of these adventures should not have been written down. Josef, the 'gipiy, and Maria are entertaining creatures, with a simplicity and a disinterested friendliness which is all too rare, whether in fact or fiction. In their company, and that of others, Mr. Baerlein conducts us over the countryside, talking and being talked to, entertained by a pro-Slovak Hungarian lawyer or a depressed Serbian landlord, mistaken for a lunatic, and introduced by the mayor of a provincial town to a picturesque saint and his votary. Perhaps the most constant characteristie of Slovaks is, however, that they all take an instantaneous liking for Mr. Baerlein, lunatic or not, even to—but that is one of the things which' he should not have told about.

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