SOME BOOKS OF THE • WEEK.
[Notice in this column does not necessarily preclude subsequent revival
Egypt of the Egyptians. By W. L. Balls. (Sir I. Pitman and Sons. 6s. net.)—Mr. Balls gave nine years' service to Egypt, and seems thoroughly equipped to describe the land and its people. He has an easy, sometimes almost colloquial. style which fits an account that is compressed into less than three hundred pages. Nearly a third is devoted to a survey of the history from prehistoric days to the declaration of the British Protectorate in 1914. The dynastic periods, the Ptolemaic and Roman occupations, the successive Christian or Moslem pre- dominance, are set out in good perspective. Then the Nile is talon, from its sources to the sea, as the thread on which is hung a rapid' but clear geographical review. Chapters follow upon the crops, especially cotton; upon the fellaheen, the bulk of the population, and its constant, indispensable foundation ; and upon foreigners, official and other. The author's general views are sound, as may be illustrated by an expre.ssibu of opinion that might have come from a Report of Lord Cromer, whose policy and administration he very properly admires as the greatest blessing of modern Egypt ; " So long as Egypt is taxed to the minimum possible, concurrently with the maximum safe State expenditure on productive works, she will henceforth be easy to govern and reasonably loyal to her protectors, provided only that they hold the Dominion of the High Seas and the respect of Islam."
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