6 JANUARY 1917, Page 32

The Literary History of Spanish America. By Alfred Coester. (Mac-

millan and Co. 10s. 6d. net.)—Europe has hoard of the Cuban poets Heredia and Flacido, but knows little about Spanish-American authors in general. This book is a carefully written account of them, with summaries of their principal works. The opening chapters deal gener- ally with the Colonial period and the Revolution, and the closing chapter describes the Modernist movement which has spread over the con- tinent. In the intervening pages each State is treated separately, Brazil as a Portuguese-speaking country being omitted. Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile can boast, it would seem, of much literary talent, but South America has yet to produce a great writer. New countries seldom do.