11 AUGUST 1906, Page 22

Phantasma. By A. C. Inchbold. (W. Blackwood and Sons. 6s.)

—The portrait of Napoleon on the outside of this book, coupled with the facsimile of his hieroglyphic—it cannot be called an autograph—will prepare the reader to find Bonaparte the central figure of the book. The novel deals with the French army in Cairo, and the references to El Arish, &c., give it a very timely and topical air. The story is, unfortunately, confused, and the figures of the wife and daughter of Murad Bey are not as life- like as they should be to make the novel convincing. But the subject which the author has chosen excuses many shortcomings, and the reader will find some interesting sidelights on Napoleon's Egyptian campaign and the siege of Acre, or, as the author prefers to spell it, A.kka.