Captain John Lister. By John A. Hamilton. (Hutchinson and Co.
6s.)—This novel by the author of "The MS. in a Red Box" deals with certain events during the period of the Great Rebellion. It is perhaps somewhat provoking to be transported to so memor- able a date only to find that the Ix hole action of the story takes place in What may be called a backwater, and that none of the great personages or the great events of the day are introduced into the book. The Isle of Axholme is the scene of the story, and the hero, Captain John Lister, is required to keep order among the marshmen and foreign settlers of that place. The book is full of adventures and escapes, but somehow lacks the true quality of excitement, though the heroine is beautiful and the hero manly. The sympathies of the author are with the Parliament for whom Captain Lister fights, and in the end the heroine, who is mildly Royalist, is delighted to be carried off by her Parliament bride- groom. The details of the book are well filled in, the period is carefully studied, and the writing from a literary point of view is adequate.
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