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THE SEVEN AGES OF VENICE. By C. Marshall Smith. Illustrated. (Blackie, 10s. 6d.)—The author of this book would probably not claim for it the attention of the serious historical student : rather, he addresses himself to those who desire a popular account of some of the phases of Venetian history, and such will not be disappointed. One criticism has to be made, however : somewhat arbitrarily the author divides Venetian history on the analogy of Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man. The eleventh to the fourteenth centuries are, for instance, described as the Soldier Age, whereas the Justice Age is made to cover the fifteenth to the seventeenth. Considering that Venetians played a leading part in the defence of Constantinople against the Turks (1453), contributed the main strength of Don John's naval force at Lepanto (1571), and all through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were busy humouring, trading with, or fighting the Turks, to call all this the Justice Age seems a wresting of history. But perhaps Mr. Smith relies on Sarpi's famous definition of Justice, that it " includes everything that may contribute to the preservation of the State.'
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