20 FEBRUARY 1926, Page 21

THIS WEEK'S BOOKS

" Tim most perfect relic of English society in the feudal age " was a subject to attract Lord Curzon ; and in Bedlam Castle (Cape. 30s.) he has combined the archaeological insight for which his name will always be remembered in India with more than the average archaeologist's power of description. Although the book is chiefly of interest to the antiquarian, the last chapter gives glimpses of the sports and dalliances of a fourteenth-century knight, settling down at home after the wars. We see how he used to stock his larder with pigeons from his castle walls ; we ree where his butler and cellarer lived, and what military precautions he took against attack.