The Freedom of the Seas Historically Treated. By Sir Francis
Piggott. (Oxford University Press. 3s. 6d. net.)—Sir Francis Piggott summarizes in this excellent little treatise the history of the famous disputes over " the freedom of the seas " from the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 to the close of the Napoleonic Wars. It is an admirable introduction to the subject which he is treating fully in a series of volumes. The book has been written for the Historical Section of the Foreign Office, and is dispassionate in tone. Indeed, the facts speak for themselves. As the author says, the theory that " free ships make free goods " is a principle of international law which Great Britain has wrongfully rejected, is indefensible in view of the fact that the supporters of that principle—like Sweden, for instance, or the United States— have repudiated it when they were at war. We shall do well to abide by our ancient and well-tried policy.
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