A Book of Discovery. By M. B. Synge. (T. C.
and E. C. Jack. 7s. 6d. net.)—What might be called a history of the world from one point of view is set out here in simple language. The early ideas of the geography of the world are explained, and we pass on to the classical travellers such as Herodotus, Alexander, and Caesar, and the topographists Ptolemy and Pliny. Then follow the movements of the Vikings, the early pilgrims and their contemporaries, until we come to the explorations which were chronicled in languages still spoken ; the travels of Marco Polo, Prince Henry, Columbus and the other bold spirits who crossed the Atlantic to North and South America ; Cook and others who took the Southern Seas for the sphere of their adventures. Africa is mainly the scene of the exploits of those two men, Livingstone and Stanley, who but for persevering endurance had probably no single characteristic in common. At the last come the regions ot which we still know so little, Tibet (we notice that the author disregards Mr. Savage Lander) and the North and South Poles. The book is thus full of interest and stimulus to adventure. It is profusely illustrated with portraits and scenes taken from all kinds of sources. To older readers perhaps the most interesting reproductions will be those of the old maps, figured and plain, from the earliest rudiments of cartography.
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