28 MAY 1904, Page 22

A .Tunior History of England. By Charles Oman and Mary

Oman. (E. Arnold. 2s.)—A book of this kind, the work of one who is a practised writer and an acknowledged authority on his subject, is open to one kind of criticism only,—is the due proportion preserved ? From 55 B.C. to 1066 A.D. we have fifteen pages ; from 1066 to 1485, forty-eight; from 1485 to 1689, seventy ; and from 1689 to 1902, a hundred and nine. The first period is too short, though it would be difficult to affirm that any of the others is too long. The fact is that the thing cannot really be done. Our authors, however, get as near to the impossible as could be hoped.—In the "University Tutorial Series" (W. B. Clive) we have The Tutorial History of Greece, by W. J. Wood- house, M.A. (3s. 6d.) Professor Woodhouse has also had a great subject to compress into a narrow space,—the story of Greece from prehistoric times down to the death of Demosthenes. Here the problem is complicated by the very great importance of the prehistoric period, while, on the other hand, the historic time is brief. The latest authorities have been consulted, and what will doubtless be a useful book is the result..