21 MAY 1921, Page 24

When Turkey was Turkey. By Mary A. Poynter. (Routledgo. 12s.

6d. net.)—Mrs. Poynter knows Turkey well—as the late Sir Edwin Pears testified in an introduction to her book—and her scattered papers on Constantinople, on journeys to Nicaea, Prinkipo, Troy, Konia, and Angora, and on other topics are pleasant reading. Her chapter on " The Passing of the Dogs of Constantinople " is reprinted from the Spectator of 1910. Mrs. Poynter saw something of the revolution of 1908-9 and visited Yildiz soon after Abdul Hamid had been dethroned. She says that the Sultan employed four hundred gardeners in his inner garden, which was enclosed in a park guarded by a veritable army.