Born in China, our author speaks the language with fluency and clarity. He has that Bohemian temperament which puts him at ease with the Chinese and, what is of equal importance, places them at ease with himself. He is perfectly at home with officials of all grades, and having spent many years on the teaching staffs of Chinese Colleges and Universities, the modern professorial mind hides few secrets from him. With students of both new and old China he is familiar and can and does accommodate himself to their games and pastimes. The sons of the highest in land have been committed to his care as private tutor and have not forgotten him yet though years have passed since he was their mentor.

Mr. Swallow has made a very valuable contribution to our understanding of the Chinese. He has caught with photographic accuracy those aspects of Chinese life which are bound to pass or be modified by the impact of new ideas. To the new comer his book is invaluable and for old residents it is an excellent aide-memoire. For future students of social and anthropological data he has given permanency to institutions which sooner or later are bound to pass. It is quite possible that in future years his volume may be useful as a text-book on forgotten aspects of life, much in the same way as Dubois' is becoming for India.

The book is sumptuously furnished with original photographs numbering over 100, some of them full page. If such a volume had been placed in the hands of some of us on first arrival in China our interest and knowledge of the people would have been fuller. There is not a dull page in it and some questions generally taboo are treated with a frankness which robs them of all objections.