Page:English Historical Review Volume 37.djvu/482

 474 SHORT NOTICES July country of the De Witts and De Ruyter, of Rembrandt and Vondei. As a survey of leading facts Mr. Edmundson's book, read with some care, will be welcome to English students. C. B. The editor, Sir Charles Lucas, himself contributes the first volume of The Empire at War (London : Milford, 1921), an elaborate co-operative history that is now being prepared under the aegis of the Royal Colonial Institute. The work treats of the part played by the forces of the overseas empire in the late war and of the way in which the development of each of the outer parts of the empire was affected by the war. This volume, however, is much more than an introduction to the narratives of events between 1914 and 1920 ; it stands by itself as a study of the part played by the realms beyond the sea during war in the past and in their own policing and defence during peace. It is a contribution to the history of British expansion by an acknowledged master in the field, and is no mere com- pendium of facts. On almost every page there are to be found those suggestive interpretations of historical happenings that weld the story into one and reveal how the numberless diversities of the empire's growth are transfused with a unity of spirit and of purpose. Many new and interesting facts concerning the defence of the old English empire are brought out in the section dealing with the first two centuries of its story, but the main interest of the book lies in its treatment of this side of colonial history during the nineteenth century. The chapter on colonial self-government and colonial self-defence between 1816 and 1885 presents from a new angle the story of a time of rapid growth when these matters were closely interdependent. With detailed reference to the official sources of the time it is shown how a sound policy of imperial defence was gradually evolved along with the growth of responsible government, and how defence of what had been achieved led on to the assumption of new responsibilities. The latter part of the book provides an admirably lucid summary of the work for defence that was done by successive colonial and imperial conferences between 1886 and 1914, and shows how by a process of full and frank discussion the imperial government secured the co-operation of the dominions in a common policy. None but those who, like himself, had seen the development of events from within could have told that story with such authority and such clearness, and Sir Charles Lucas is to be congratulated on the aid he has thus rendered to students of imperial history. A. P. N. Students of the history of British India may be glad to know that the Imperial Record Department has now begun to place on sale, in the issue of 1921, its reference List of the Heads of Administrations in India and of the India Office in England (Calcutta : Superintendent Government Printing, 1921), hitherto published only for official use. U. In face of the present difficulties of publication the emergence of any new enterprise like the ' Historico-Geographical Monographs ' edited by Professor H. J. Fleure is a matter for rejoicing, and the modest scope of the first of these booklets, The Historical Geography of the Wealden Iron