NEW BOOKS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 758, 5 March 1910, Page 9

NEW BOOKS.

"Things Worth Thinking About." - By Professor of the University of Melbourne.- - Melbourne: : T. C. Lothian.

Professor Tucker is one of the very few men in Australasia who have made any_ serious or useful attempt to keep lighted" tlie lamps of literature and criticism. Original literary thought on any large scale is so very rare in this part of the world that it is not without gcod reason that lovers of literature pay very little attention to the proso works of Australasian writers.. When, as occasionally happens, there appears a volume by -an Australian writer whitih turns out to : be as "v;ell worth reading as-the books of "essays" and "literary. studies" that we get from England. and America, there is excuse for rejoicing.. The seven essays in Professor Tucker's volume are not new, although in book £orm th6j: will be.new to New Zealand readers.. They are distinctly worth while, even though there are here and there whole pages-in which very obvious things are-said in the'manner of a schoolmaster, for Professor Tucker has depth and breadth of scholarship, a good, style, and a capacity for clear, and original thinking. The "-things worth thinking about" are mainly poetry and history,. and 'the professor's; handling of them-so suggestive and stimulating that his book ought to succeed in the aim implied for it in its title. "We especially commend his essay on "The Teachings of History," which is packed with wisdom, to.evoryone.-who,is seriously interested in the science, of politics.

"The Caravaners." By the '.author, of "Elizabeth' ill her "German Garden." London: Gejrg© Bell and Sons, 2s. Gd. OVhitcombo and Tombs). AYo do not know if a more amusing novel than "The Caravaners" has been published lately, but if so, wo should make hasto to secure - it. Not only is every page full of humour: there is hardly a soiitcnce which lias not its matter for dry inward mirth. The storyis an account, in UHs'ii'rst person, by a German baron of' liis experiences on a caravanniug tour witli his wife and some wholly charging English ••friends..'' They are not cliai-ming to. the ' Baron,. who is an unparalleled composition of meanness, ' arrogance,; liumourlessnoss; . stupidity, self-esteem, and iincharitableness. A friend of tlip.. reviewer, ti lady who knows Germany," fieclares that there never .was such a being "in.: the Umpire; she adds that, the novel will. certainly not forward, the movement for the improvement of the relations between • England and Germany. The authoress contrives oil' every page to reveal her awful bar'on, or, rather, to let him reveal nimself, as tho sanje rude and pompous'imbecile in all. circumstances, but she has managed- it f-with >■ such- cxtraordmn'iy skill that the, real nature of the different situation's, the real characters of tho other people, and the real drift of avents are perfectly clear even through his fearful and wonderful misunderstanding of-them all. The authoress, if her object was. the pillorying of tho ridiculous self-sufficiency of. the .orthodox' Prussian, has' succeeded in. an almost monstrous degree! The idea, of convicting, the Baron of .all his gross failings out of his own mouth is carried out with.such vim and such humorous relentlessness that, the countess von Arnhim must be regarded as having had some special animus as her motive. ( The astounding gravity, of the " Baron's incredible -reflections,'' imposed upon situations always deliciously comic, make "The Caravaners" quito the most amusing novel of 1909.

"The Great Rebellion, 1603-16G0." By Arthur Hassall, M.A. Rivington's, London. 2s. Gd.

In this book, one of a series of text books of English history,- the events and causes of a> highly interesting period-are compressed into small compass without loss of interest or reflection. The author has acquired the art 'of condensed narrative 'to such, good effect' that he has been able to provide an astonishing amount of detail without clogging the progress of ,his■ story, and his criticisms of character, tendencies, and politics are always interesting and ■ illuminative. A Valuable.feature to the student is a section of "notes - and illustrations," after the account of each reign, ivhich.illustrate the main points of interest. The notes on the Commonwealth period, for example, include careful considerations of tho character and object of Cromwell's rule, Cromwell's religious and foreign policies, and a comparison between Cromwell and Napoleon. A special use is made of tabulated lists. One . finds set out, for instance, "nine facts to illustrate Cromwell's claim to the title of statesman," auil "ten causes of tho Restoration." Tho author has succeeded ' unusually in his endeavour to make tile arrangement of his matter "not: enly appeal to the eye of the pupils, 'but also stimulate the memory."