15 APRIL 1911, Page 24

The Kingdom of Afghanistan. By G. P. Tate. (Times of

India Office. 10s.)—Mr. Tate tells us much about the past and present of Afghanistan and has some speculations as to its future. The country is, as the author says, a nut between the two levers of a cracker (Russia and Great Britain). But the kernel is

"notoriously unwholesome," and there is certainly less desire to appropriate it than there was a generation ago. Unfortunately the people are aggressive: witness the gun-running trouble of the day. Still, the prospect Is more hopeful than it was. One thing that makes for peace is, as Mr. Tate says, that "no European capital has been invested in it."