LOUIS D'ORLEANS By F. D. S. Darwin The later middle
ages are a period of .such complexity that any book is welcome which throws any light on the subject, or even one which only gives a clear picture of the confusion of the period. Mr. Darwin has chosen to write his history in terms of biography, but his book, Louis d'Orlians (John Murray, lOs. (i(1.), is not the less illuminating for that. Since his hero, the brother of Charles VI, reflects almost all the tendencies of the time, a biography of him can be the history of the whole period in brief, and this is what Mr. )arwin has attempted to make it. He has outlined the various interests and activities of Orleans in considerable detail, dwelling as much on his interest in the arts and in collecting as on his political schemes. Psychologically the background is gloomily filled with the figure of Charles' VI, usually " ill," but sometimes " well" enough to take his part in affairs of State for a moment. Politically the dominant theme is the development of that rivalry between Burgandy and the French crown :which was to have such terrible effects during the , fifteenth century.. The individual episodes in which Orleans , was personally involved are told very fully, particularly the : story of-the murder' in the Rue Vieille du Temple, but the author always points to the exact effect which these episodes . had on the major issues of the time. The book is extremely readable, but, with the possible exception of the first few pages. it avoids all the pitfalls usual in readable biographies. The bibliography at the end ' would remove any possible doubt about its being based on a real knowledge of the period. A misprint on p. 18 hag turned sympathic from a feminine into
Masculine virtue.
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