16 JUNE 1917, Page 22

The Eastern Question. By J. A. R. Marriott, M.P. (Claren-

don Press. 12s. Gd. net.)—This " historical study in European diplomacy " is, as the author says, the first complete account in English of the origin and development of the Eastern question from the advent of the Ottomans to the present day. It is an able and scholarly book, such as we should expect from so well known a member of the Oxford school of modern history as Mr. Marriott, and it brings together in an orderly narrative many episodes that lose their significance in the ordinary European histories, such as the Austrian wars with Turkey, Napoleon's dealings with the East, and the groat adventure of Mehemet Ali. Mr. Marriott devotes his concluding chapters to the German Emperor's Eastern schemes, to Macedonia, and to the Balkan League and its unhappy fate. Reminding us at the close that the war arose out of an unsolved Eastern question, he declares That a solution must now be found, but that it will not be based on nationality alone. " Greeks, Bulgars, Albanians, Rumanians, and Southern Slays will have to learn to live side by side in the Balkan Peninsula on terms, if not of precise mathematical equality, at least of mutual forbearance and goodwill. Otherwise there can be no peace for them or for Europe at 'large."