3 NOVEMBER 1928, Page 105

• hero of her latest historipatromance the Holy_lroiriari Emperor, NcismIlian

COUrfabibuirg: IdealiStie7 diCainy, and remark- ably moral for his period, Maximilian was the greatest monarch in Europe during the transition from the Renaissance to the Reformation. This story is not exciting, and Miss Bowen, who keeps closely to her well-studied facts, is to be praised for not taking liberties with her thence. But, while she witer with-her usual knowledge, grace, and- charm, we feel that a straightforward history of " the last of the knights " would have been preferable to this narrative mildly diluted and coloured with fiction.