Henry VI. By Mabel E. Christie. (Constable. 16s. net.) To
a series of volumes on the Kings and Queens of England Miss Christie has contributed a pleasant and readable life of the unlucky Henry the Sixth, who ought to have been anything but a king in one of the most turbulent periods of English history. He founded Eton in 1440 and King's College, Cam- bridge, in the following year, and the universities of Caen and Bordeaux were established in his name in 1432 and 1441 respectively. His love of learning was evidently sincere. He used to tip the Etonians whom he met in Windsor, but he would not have them near the Court, which, he said, was no place for the young. But this pious and kindly man was the weakest and most inefficient king who ever sat on the English throne, and his reign was one long series of disasters after the death of his capable uncle, Bedford Miss Christie relates the familiar story intelligently and adds a useful itinerary of the King's movements, to remind us that bygone monarchs had a very unsettled life, travelling incessantly from one place to another, partly in order that the Court might be fed.
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