A THOUSAND YEARS OF RUSSIAN HISTORY. Books upon Russia come
in a welcome stream. Mrs. Sonia Howe's A Thousand Years of Russian History (Williams and Norgate, 7s. 6d. net) makes a special appeal by its dedication to the two Allied nations to which she belongs, to " the one by birth, the other, no less, by marriage." The illustrations also, taken in some cases from old banners or ikons, are attractive. The thousand years are from 882, in the days of Rurik at Kiev, to 1862, when Alexander 1I. had liberated the serfs. Mrs. Howe gives the stories of the ancient Muscovite rulers, such as Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godounov, who have been perhaps best known to many Londoners through M. Chaliapine's impersona- tions. The modern history opens with Peter the Great, followed by the great women who ruled the Empire and increased it. Alexander I. appears, a real power in Europe, followed in turn by the stern Nicholas and the gentle Alexander II. In nearly all these rulers Mrs. Howe finds room for charitable judgments of their personal characters, and her belief in their good intim- lions and paternal government is supported by the fact that, contrary to the teaching of history elsewhere, permanent Russian reforms have generally come from the top and not from below. At the end of the book are short accounts of the Cossacks ; of Poland, whose history is inextricably bound up with the whole ; and a melancholy chapter on Finland. In spite of some signs of haste in its composition, this is a book that will more than repay its readers.-Of quite a different class is Russia of To-Day, by J. F. Fraser (Cassell and Co., 6s.). Any honest and sympathetic book about Russia is welcome now, and this one can claim those attributes. It treats of many different parts of the Empire in which the author has travelled and made the most of his powers of observation. He has a good deal to say of the present and future of Russia's foreign tut& But it does not rise much above journalism in style or matter. It is illustrated with photographs.
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