14 APRIL 1928, Page 19

Mr. Miles's translation of Giuseppe Portigliotti's The Borgia., (Alien and

Unwin, 12s; t3d.) is not a book we can advise for general reading,, although it is undeniably important. There_ is . a chapter on the poison of the Borgias and another—too outspoken to be decent—on their private life. We shudder at the deeds of this extraordinary family, but across the years we may fairly regard them as pathological

eases.