Britain and her Rivals in the Eighteenth Century. By Arthur
D. Ines, M.A. (A. D. Lanes and Co.)—This is a spirited, enthusiastic little book, hill of excellent reading for those who have a general acquaintance with English history, and want more detailed in- formation on the foreign relations of one period. Mr. Ines is a notable exponent of the theory of sea-power and its influence, and teaches a lesson which seems to require a good deal of learning. He appears to us to run the risk of occasionally over-estimating its importance,—e g., in India, but he does so in the best of company. Perhaps the War of American Independence is the occasion when its value can be most nicely weighed, but that is not in Mr. Innes's period. Mr. Innes's method leaves a little to be desired. He pre- sumes necessarily a good deal of knowledge as he is covering an enormous field, and occasionally, as on pp. 114 and 207, one feels that one is being taken back again needlessly, but this fault we have had in other European histories. In extent Mr. Innes's book compares with that of Mr. Dyer, but he has the advantage of Mr. Dyer in that he has a centre to swing round, and so keeps his various parts in fair proportion. That there is no book which just covers the same ground is no small recommendation.
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