29 JANUARY 1916, Page 37

Line-upon-Line Russian Reader. By Colonel A. Jamieson (Kegan Paul, Trench,

and Co. 2s. 6d. net.)—Many English people are trying to learn Russian. We cannot see that they can really learn the language from this small volume, which teaches nothing of grammar or the alphabet, although the author writes comfortingly that grammar is " practically ignored by a population of some 164 millions." But those who master it as a companion exercise-book will find that they have some practical conversational knowledge. The scheme is to give in three lines (1) the Russian, (2) the transliterated Russian, and (3) the English version.—A more conventional instructor is The Self-Educator in Russian, by Dr. Louis Segal (Hodder and Stoughton, 3s. 6d. net). This gives the grammar and pronunciation in the forms to which we are accustomed in school-books of foreign languages. It has numerous exercises of increasing difficulty, with a key to them at the end, and advice upon an early course of Russian reading.