27 JULY 1956, Page 26

Money is it possible to explain advanced economic analysis to

the general reader in simple lan- guage? How much can an intelligent layman be expected to grasp from a dozen pages on Keynes's General Theory, and about thirty pages on how the value of money is measured, why it changes and what the consequences arc? Honor Croome makes a brave attempt at simplification, but it is not completely success. ful. For one thing, Introduction to MoneY (Methuen, 10s. (Id.) is an unhappy blend of 'historical narrative, description and analytical argument,' which seems to have trapped the author into some turgid writing. The descrip- tive passages are particularly disappointing. In the sketches of the money market, the mer- chant banks and the foreign exchange market Mrs. Croome appears to have denied herself (and thus her readers) the advantages which would have followed from talking to people in the City who work in these fields.