29 OCTOBER 1948, Page 26

The Making of 1 , 4'Odern .A Short Histork... By A. J.

Barnouw. (Allen and Unwin. 8s. 6d.) IN this little book Professor Bamouw presents a very readable account of the history of Holland, but has taken ;little notice of the historical discussion that has been carried on in his own country during the, last three decades on several vital questions, such as the causes of the separation between the itorthern. and southern Netherlands in the late sixteenth century and again in 1830, the rise of Protestantism and the more recent recovery of Catholicism, the contest between the States party and the Princes of .Orange about the direction of foreign policy in the time of the Republic. But readers, except for a few experts, will not be worried by this. Nor will they peruse the book without profit. It is clearly and agreeably written by a cultured man who is also a man of sense ; the balancv -between information and comment is happily struck' and the tone is free from jingoism, even though the view presented is in agreement with what one might call the Dutch national legend.