Siam in the Twentieth Century. By J. G. D. Campbell.
(E. Arnold. 16s.)—Our notice of this interesting and valuable volume is somewhat belated, but we are unwilling that it should pass without some recognition of its merits. Mr. Campbell has had opportunities of seeing Siam and the Siamese from within— he held for some time the post of Educational Adviser to the Siamese Government—and he knows what he is writing about. A reader who may take up the volume with a more serious purpose than entertainment should begin with the chapter on "Govern- ment and Administration." Mr. Campbell neither extenuates nor sets down in malice. Siam, externally threatened by the greed of European nations, but protected by their jealousy, is internally in a very strange condition. There is an enormous mass of inertia and corruption, and a few powerful influences, interested and dis- interested, that are working for reform. The most confident may well hesitate to prophesy what will be the end. We may specially mention the two chapters on "Religion," that on "The Chinese in Siam," and "Education," a subject on which the author is specially qualified to speak.
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