A GUIDE TO HISTORICAL FICTION.
A Guide to Historical Fiction. By Ernest A. Baker. (George Rontledge and Sons. 21s. net.)—This learned and comprehensive catalogue has grown out of two previous works by the same author, published in 1903 and 1908 re- spectively. It is designed "for the particular benefit of the teacher and student of history, and for the reader interested in history who has not time or inclination to study the more
serious historians." We know that "truth embodied in a tale" will be received at many doors which are closed to any more abstract presentation of facts. But, alts! the tale does not always embody truth : Scott and Dumas, beyond compare the best of all historical novelists, both took the liberty of modifying history as they chose : and many who cannot copy their magic, have yet imitated them in this. Mr. Baker, however, assures us that "the groundwork of the genuine historical romance . . . is as sincere and valid reconstruction as the best efforts of the serious historian."
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