21 JULY 1923, Page 22

The interest of Mr. Nevill's memories lies not in their

lack of convention, which is negligible, but in their historical value. The world they deal with survives now only in memories. For the happy few in " Society " it must have been the nicest of worlds. His descriptions of Teheran in 1887 are absorbing. The old Shah Nasr-Ed-Din, subsequently assassinated, was at the height of his power, and Persia was still incredibly remote and amazingly picturesque. He has little that is new to tell us of Japan, but there are some amusing stories about the Turf in those good old days.