CURRENT LITERATURE
THE WAYFARER'S COMPANION By Arnold Fellows
In The Wayfarer's Companion (Oxford University Press, 6s.) Mr. Fellows pro- vides holiday-makers " whose interests lead them farther than the golf links, the bandstand, and the beach " with an excellent historical background of the English countryside. He begins with a chapter on geographical features, and then follow chapters on early English history, on the Ordnance map and place names, and sections on the parish church, monasteries, cathedrals, and the English house and furniture. One of the most valuable parts of the book is a long appendix, in which important specimens of these various places of interest are listed according to counties. The book is a miracle of compression, and _will assuredly act as a spur to many walkers, whose excursions will be considerably enriched if they take a copy in their rucksacks. It would be no bad idea if a copy was kept in every Youth Hostel. The Wayfarer's Companion is written in a light and rather engaging style, very different from that of the usual guide- book.; on the other hand, the scholarship and careful research which have gone to its making are obvious. Finally, there are very few authors who can explain the elementary principles of, say, geology or Mediaeval architecture so clearly and readably as Mr. Fellows.
Previous page
