LORD READING AND HIS CASES By Derek Walker-Smith Those who
like reading abstracts of causes celihres, illustrated by sketches of the legal and other personalities involved in them, will enjoy this book (Chapman and Hall, 15s.). Lord Reading has figured, as counsel or judge, in a large number of interesting and important cases, and though most of them (the Seddon case and the trial of Casement are noteworthy exceptions) were civil actions, many were of such a kind as to be easy and • interesting for the layman to follow, and several here recounted (for inatance,- the leading' case of Allen v. FlOod) are of importance in-the history of the law; the author skilfully presents the legal issues in these last cases without bewildering or boring the reader., The accounts of more notorious cases, such as the Whittaker Wright. case, the Hartopp divorce case, the Sievier prOkeution, and of Lord Reading's appearances on behalf of Cadbury Bros. and of Sir Edward Russell, will entertain many readers who know the names and outlines of these cases and would like to' know the details. Not much is said in the book about Lord Reading's political career ; indeed, his life is used chiefly as, a thread on which to hang the story of his cases, marked at the due points by the record of fresh honours in his profession. Something of the subject's personality comes through, but it is not as easy to convey Lord Reading's cool distinction by recounting his appearances in Court as it is to perform a. similar service for the more flamboyant figures of " F. E.," Lord Carson, and Marshall Hall. A constant repetition of the word " suave " is not enough. The author is not always accurate, and his book is riddled with cliches of thought and diction.
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