22 APRIL 1966, page 19

Devil's Advocate

The Mandarin and Other Stories. By Eva de Queiroz. (Bodley Head, 21s.) The Seed. By Tarjei Vesaas. (Peter Owen, 25s.) The Ballad of Oliver Powell. By Stead Jones. (Bles, 18s.)......

The First Liberals

The Formation of the Liberal Party 1857-1868. By John Vincent. (Constable, 42s.) IN spite of the amount written about ,nineteenth- century Britain, great tracts of its history......