3 SEPTEMBER 1910, Page 27

English Literature. By F. J. Rahtz, MA. (Methuen and Co.

2s. 6d.)—In this volume we have a succinct account of English literature and English writers from the earliest down to the latest, from Beowulf down to George Meredith. Living authors, it will be understood, are not included. A very large range of knowledge is covered as satisfactorily as can be expected, in view of the limited space available. It will be interesting to see the proportions: From 650 A.D. to 1500, fifty pages, Caxton being the latest ; the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, More to Evelyn, ninety-two pages ; the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Swift down to the present time, ninety-two. Accom- panying volumea give illustrative selections : 1350 to 1700, and 1700 to present day (2s. each).