Shorter Notice The Quakers. By Otto Zarek. (Dakers. los. 6d.)
OF all Protestant denominations there is probably none that is richer in records of its origin and history or more careful in their pre- servation than the Society of Friends. A small book about the Quakers by a foreigner, himself a refugee from Nazi oppression, is therefore of interest, not from any new facts which it contributes, for the author makes no such claim, but as an expression of " how • it strikes a contemporary " whose own tradition and milieu have been markedly different. It is a pity that the book is marred by some historical errors and naiveties of judgement. To cite but two, the Scottish Presbyterians were the allies of Cromwell at Marston Moor, not his opponents, and Milton never came near to becoming a Quaker. Mr. Zarek has obviously brought to his work enthusiasm and great sympathy. He does full justice to the spiritual stature and prophetic vision of George Fox, but his account of the other leaders, such as Barclay and Penn, shows that he does not think of early Quakerism as Fox et praeterea nihil. In his account of Penn, while recognising the man's greatness, he is father too ready to accept a Macaulayesque estimate of his relations with the Court. Three-quarters of the book are occupied with the first 6o years of Quakerism in England and America.
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