28 DECEMBER 1918, Page 20

The Order of St. John of Jerusalem. By Rose G.

Kingsley. (Skeffington. 4s. 6d. net.)—The romantic story of the oldest of Nursing Orders has often been told, but it bears retelling in Miss Kingsley's pleasant little book. She recounts the history of the Knights Hoapitallers at Jerusalem, Rhodes, and Malta, and explains that, years after Napoleon had expelled the Knights from Malta, surviving members meeting in council in Franoe re-established the English branch of the Order. The English Knights took advantage of the fact that Queen Mary's charter to the Order in 151! had never been revoked, but in 1878 Queen Victoria granted a fresh charter. The author describes all too briefly the remarkable work done by the Order in the past forty years for nursing and ambu- lance corps, and especially during the war in co-operation with the Red Cross.