The C'hildren's Story of Westminster Abbey. By G. E. Troutbeck.
(Mills and Boon. 5s. net.)—This does not claim to be a guide to the Abbey,—it would be wasteful to get up a guide in this style. It gives an outline of English history as it is illustrated by the Abbey buildings and monuments. We begin with the name itself.
Why "Abbey" ? This introduces the story of the Benedictine foundation on Thorney Island, from the time of Sebert downwards.
So we follow the thread of history, through Edward the Confessor, the Norman and Plantagenet Kings, and their successors. The various parts of the building are duly assigned as we proceed. Of what now stands, the earliest part belongs to Henry III., the latest to Sir Christopher Wren, or, rather, to a pupil who probably used his designs, for the towers were not finished till /740. Yet more interesting than the building is the story of what has been done in it,—the story of coronations, funerals, Ice. Of these we have the visible records ; they are an epitome of history written in stone. All that is really essential is here given. There is an excellent chapter on the wax effigies. We imagine that there are many who will be surprised to hear that they can see the original of the Britannia whom they know so well on the reverse of their pennies in a glass case in the Islip Chantry. We must not forget to praise the admirable illustrations.
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