TOURAINE AND ITS STORY.
Touraine and its Story. By Anne Macdonell. With Coloured Illustrations by A. B. Atkinson. (P. M. Dent and Co. .51 la. net.)—Books dealing with Touraine and its bordering provinces are becoming very numerous, and vary much in value. Miss Macdonell's new book is to be welcomed as a genuine and trust- worthy addition to English knowledge of this attractive subject. Touraine has everything to delight both tourist and reader, not only in the beauty of its far-famed castles and great houses and their history so full of romance, but in all that nameless charm, no less real because not evident to every passing traveller, which lays such hold on the minds of those who are capable of feeling it. Old France—the words have a thrill of their own for some ears—may be felt and known nowhere better than in the sweet valleys and by the streams of Touraine. Half the merit of Miss Macclonell's book lies in her power of appreciating all this and touching it with good taste and sympathy. Her subject is large ; Touraine's portrait-gallery is a long one ; and we should be glad if space allowed us to dwell a little, with a few slight criticisms, on what seems the generally correct history. But the blemishes are so really insignificant that we feel safe in recommending the book, with its pretty illustrations, to all who care for a fascinating subject.
Previous page
