14 AUGUST 1886, Page 26

The Thin Red Line. By Arthur Griffiths. 2 vols. (Chapman

and Hall.)—By help, as we suppose, of Mr. Kinglake's "History of the Crimean War," Mr. Griffiths makes a pleasant and interesting story out of the fortunes of a certain Stauislas McKay. He increases his store of materials by his knowledge of the proceedings of French justice. A very dangerous woman of the Lamia kind plays her part in the drama, and, after very nearly bringing the hero to a premature end, meets with her own death. Both parts of the story, that which has to do with the campaigning of the allies before Sebastopol, and that which takes us to Paris, its criminals and its police, are well worked up; they are ingeniously dovetailed into each other, and together make up a successful novel.