Commentaries on the History of England. By Montagu Burrows. (Blackwood
and Sons.)—" The following pages," says Professor Burrows in his preface, "are an attempt to interpret the History of England in accordance with the latest researches." Further in the same preface, he expresses the opinion that, though we want a new History of England, the time has not yet come for writing it. The materials are not yet thoroughly examined, and when they are examined, there will yet remain the task of con- sidering them. Meanwhile, we have in this book a systematic help provided for the use of the student. We may give as an instance the seventeenth chapter, in which the reign of Henry II. is dealt with. Within the last thirty years, a vast amount of original matter connected with the life of Thomas Becket and his relation to Henry IL has been brought to light. This Professor Burrows summarises, making a " commentary " of it. He does not relate, as of course the writer of a regular history would, the actual in- cident of the murder, but he goes through the controversies which culminated in it. It will be seen at once how valuable a work we have, therefore, in this volume, and how much labour it repre- sents. Every paragraph is the outcome of careful study of a largo amount of historical materials. It is to this that Professor Bur- rows has devoted himself. The more agreeable work of relating the picturesque incidents of history he has uniformly denied himself, but he has evidently spared no pains in investigating the springs of action,—not the bella, with all their dramatic interests, but the belli causes.
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