1 AUGUST 1970, page 18

Best Things Best

Martin SEYMOUR-SMITH George Meredith and English Comedy V. S. Pritchett (Chatto and Windus 21s) Meredith had a hard time establishing a repu- tation—even at the height of his......

Changing Roles

G. D. RAMSAY Scholars and Gentlemen: Universities and Society in Pre-Industrial Britain 1500-1700 Hugh Kearney (Faber 50s) Dr Kearney has not compiled a glossy chronicle of......

Down Frunze Way

RONALD HINGLEY Farewell Gul'sary! Chingiz Aitmatov, trans, fated by John French (Hodder and Stough- ton 28s) From time to time, apparently on some form of rota, writers from the......