5 AUGUST 1955, Page 27

DOCTOR BARTLEY presents us with a history of the stage

Irishman, Welshman and Scot. His study is academic and thorough. It covers the period from the Elizabethan drama to the end of the eighteenth century and, with such a large area of operations, contains factual refer- ences which are extremely valuable. The main difficulty is to read the book with any real delight and persistence or to persuade oneself that the facts matter sufficiently to justify the industry. The blurb says : 'Of great value to all specialists in the field.' One specialist in the field wonders whether drama is not of sufficient importance to demand a scholarship more oriented towards critical values and, ultimately, of more relevance to life itself.

CHARLES TOMLINSON