THE STORY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY EXPLORATION By Charles Key The
sum total of exploration work achieved since Iwo is surprisingly large, including as it does discoveries in every continent, from the Poles to Ruwenzori. Mr. Key's book (Harrap, 8s. 6d.) sets out to make a selection of " the most important or significant expeditions of the century." The inclusion of some of the less purely exploratory achievements, such as Miss Freya Stark's adventures in Persia and Wilkins' great flights, is scarcely justified in view of the author's declared purpose. On the other hand the book contains useful accounts of several feats which tend to be forgotten, for example Stefansson's work in the Arctic and • Haisanein Bey's recent journeys to Kufara and other " lost " oases of the Sahara. But to summarise the work of so,many explorers is a very hard task. Most of the pleasure of read- ing about discoVeries comes from hearing the discoverer describe his experiences and sensations at first hand ; inevitably these lose in effect when narrated as scrappily as they are in The Story of Twentieth Century Exploration. The magnificent ventures of twentieth-cen- tury discoverers still await their Hakluyt.
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