2 MARCH 1912, Page 23

The Order of Release. By H. de Pere Stacpoolo. (Hutchinson

and Co. Os.)—In historical story concerning the days of Louis XV. The most remarkable chapter in the book is that containing an account of the hero's imprisonment in the Bastille. No ordinary commonplace horrors of rack or chain are introduced, but the reader will thrill in sympathy with his despair at the oppressive silence and oblivion which settle on him as he crosses the thneshold of the grim fortress. There are plots and counter- plots, and intrigues and counter-intrigues, and a lively imagination Is required to follow the various windings of the story.