Bevoxo THE Bauric—By MacAllum Scott. Thornton Butterworth, London.
Along the shores of the Baltic there have arisen a number of little republics fulfilling the functions of buffer states between Soviet Russia and Western Europe. Of these little republics with their romantic istory, their sharply marked dif ferences of race, language and re-which have existed for al i thousand years or more, too little is known and in his book, "Beyond the Baltic," Mr. MacAllum Scott. may be said to have struck fresh ground in those chapters which describe hi 1d_-experiences in Esthoni and Lithuania, 'The book' is di three, parts. In the first the author} briefly outlines the part which the Baltic has played in European history and his conception of it as a kind of northern Mediterranean where was bred the tall, great-limbed, fair-haired and blue-eyed king race which hes exercised such a determining influence on the cultural and social development of Europe.
Eleven chapters are devoted to Soviet Russia and through the lively and sympathetic account of every day life under Soviet rule may bbe traced two main ideas. Firstly, that Russia has once more became an Asiatic State and that the Europeanizing. work of Peter the Great has been undone. Petrograd, in the author's eyes is a symbol of the old governing idea, the old Western civilization rejected, battered and flung on the serap heap-Moscow is now the metropolis of] Russia, its streets full of life and colour but resembling an Oriental bazaar rather than a European city. Secondly, the author conceives of the present constitution in Russia not as Communism but as Government by Chartered Company mon-opalizing all the external trade of the country both export and import and paying little regard to the internal trade except as a source of taxation, If the author's impressions are correct, the Soviet Government is firmly established and is not likely to be overthrown from within since it has lately gained extensive measure of support from the peasantry who are afraid that counter-revolution will cost: them the land which they have so der of the book describes the author's experiences in. Poland, Finland and the little republics already mentioned. Mr. MacAllum Scott had known and loved this land before the war and therefore his account of their present condition is the more valuable addition he possesses the inestimable advantage of speaking many of the languages" spoken, along the shores of the Baltic.
The delightful Baltic riviera, the' romantic amber coast, the friendly People with their social freedom, their energy and their! ism, the sharp Lu-theron spires of' the north, the fantastic blue and gold Byzantine domes in the south are all described with vividness and charm and the book with its picturesque seen encounters and incidents is one of the most entertaining of travel which has come into our hands for some time. The numerous illustrations are particularly well chos and inelade three powerful Bolshe-yik cartoons which may be said to summarize the spirit which animates the Communists and cause them to
mouth, stand condemned out of their own
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.