The Story of Russia. By M. E. Benson. (Rivingtons.)—We have
in this work first a chapter descriptive of Russia which affords its readers a bird's-eye view of the country. Then the story proceeds gradually to the formation of the Russian people by settlements of Slays, and to the manner in which they got their name from Norse- men of the tribe of Ras, who conquered them. Simultaneous with this their mythology is explained ; and later on we have the period of Tartar rule and the foundation of the empire of the Czars. Here the writer, under a heading entitled "Sledging through Muscovy," gives an epitome Of the Hasse Commonwealth, by Dr. Giles Fletcher, Queen Elizabeth's Ambassador to the Muscovite Court, who, by the way, thought that he had discovered in the Tartars the lost tribes of Israel. The consolidation of the empire by Peter the Great, and the reforms introduced by him, have dueepaoe allotted them. Thence we pass on through the dark history of the great Queens to the Napoleonic wars ; and the work closes with mention of the Emancipa- tion Deoree of 1861. All this has been set forth with due appreciation of the study of important periods, with careful interlacing of historic customs and national growth, and with precise information of Russia's relationships with other countries of Europe. Whoever reads the beok,be he man or child, will have laid an excellent foundation for farther study and research on the same subject. Like the others of the series to which it belongs, it is well illustrated with engravings and a map, and is provided with a carefully compiled index.
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