Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/424

 4 1 4 Reviezvs of Books The principle of the political equality of individuals has failed in prac- tice and must be abandoned altogether. For Belgium he proposes the division of the country into (l) agricultural districts, (2) small cities, and (3) large cities. Within each of these areas the several classes should choose separate representatives. In the agricultural communi- ties, for example, the proprietors should form one electoral college, the laborers another, each choosing a representative. The proposal is an ingenious one, but many students of political science will not agree that modern democracy has proved a failure. Few will concede that democratic institutions have failed in the United States. The instability of parliamentary government on the continent of Europe may well be attributed to the brief experience of the people in popular government. M. Prins, when he compares the success of England with the failure of continental countries, fails to see that the comparison is hardly a fair one. Although one may dissent from the author's general thesis, it must be said that he has written a thoughtful and instructive criticism of modern political conditions. Notes on the History and Political Institutions of the Old World. By Edward Preissig, Ph.D. (New York and London, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1906, pp. ix, 719.) This book grew out of a set of student's notes, compiled for an examination, and professes to offer in a single volume an epitome of the two subjects named in the title. Student's notes are likely not to be of great value except to the person who has taken them. Dr. Preissig's book bears marks of its origin in the lack of proportion with which it is constructed, and in the omission of many important subjects. In such a work it would be difficult to justify the omission of any reference to the revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian dominions, and to the Austro-Hungarian government. Practically no mention is made of what is perhaps the most important development of European history in the nineteenth century — the gradual dismemberment of Turkey in Europe. Dr. Preissig's volume is professedly based upon secondary works in English, and makes no pretense to originality. The compiler sometimes contributes additional bits of information, as, for instance, the state- ment that the French army invaded Germany in 1870 (p. 616). Thresh- ing as it does over fields already covered by many excellent works, such a book as this should find its justification in clearness of presentation, yet in this respect it can hardly be called a success. Though it contains much information, which is usually accurate, it will not supply the place of the works from which it is compiled, and will be of little use to the student or to the advanced scholar to whom its preface refers. The language is often so confused as to be almost unintelligible, and many errors appear which should have been detected in a careful reading of the manuscript or of the proof. The Silver Ai^e of the Greek World. P.y John Pcntland :lahaft'y. Sometime Professor of Ancient History in the Universitv of Dublin.