Although Mr. F. A. M. Webster's Athletics of To-day (Frederick
Warne, 12s. 6d.) is marred by some small inaccur- acies, it is probably the most entertaining and complete history of modern field sports yet written. As Lord Burghley says in his preface,the stories of great races and the anecdotes of great runners contained in these pages would alone make this volume valuable ; but there is much more ; 300 illustra- tions, including many " action " pictures ; statistics of records " ; a very full name-index and a treatise on every department of athletics. Mr. Webster has watched the ath- letic growth of Finland and Japan and the revival of Germany through sport : he believes, as we do, that athletics, by afford- ing a common meeting-ground in a universal pastime, will be the means of wiping out many of the misunderstandings which made the Great War possible. It is remarkable how the level of performance has risen in our own public schools. During the last four years the first ten boys have run the 100 yards one-fifth of a second faster in 1929 than in 1925, have jumped two inches more in the long jump, and two inches higher ; and have put the shot 4 feet farther.
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