Tim new volume of the great county history includes the
Chiltern Hundreds—Desborough, Burnham and Stoke—as well as Cottesloe Hundred and the three boroughs of Ayles- bury, Wendover and Buckingham. Thus it deals with a most picturesque district, abounding in fine churches and houses and rich in historical associations. The Chalfonts, Chenies, Eton, Stoke Poges, Medmenham, Ivinghoe—such names arouse curiosity, which the devoted scholars who have worked out the parish histories satisfy to the full. It seems invidious to select where all the sections are so well done, but the histories of Eton and of Wendover are especially interesting. The three Chiltern hundreds were grouped before the Conquest and were a royal estate in the thirteenth century. The practice of using the sinecure Stewardship as a means of iesigning one's seat in the House of Commons dates from the Place Act of
1742, or rather from John Peel's acceptance of the nominal office in 1750. It would be well if Buckinghamshire teachers could introduce their pupils to this fascinating book. The study of history is all the more attractive when it begins at home. -
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