“The Mountain Way.” An Anthology in Prose and Verse, collected by R. L. G. Irving. 656 pages, 1 illustration. London : J. M. Dent & Sons, 1938. Price 10 s, 6 d.

Arnold Lunn’s Oxford Mountaineering Essays and J. Walker McSpadden’s The Alps as Seen by the Poets have served their limited purposes well. It remained for R. L. G. Irving to combine mountain prose and verse in a comprehensive, up-to-date anthology. “If you can neither go to the mountains nor have beside you a friend whose mere presence brings them back,” says Mr. Irving, “there remains another way, a third best only, but often a pleasant and effective way, that is, to read what men have written of them.” Intended to reach all types of mountain lovers, The Mountain Way offers a wide range of reading which is divided into the following seven sections: 1, How Men Have Looked at It; 2, How They Have Followed It; 3, A Way of Change; 4, Its Halting-Places; 5, Its Warnings; 6, Men of the Mountain; 7, Visions Near and Far. Each section is pleasantly and informally prefaced. Mr. Irving has shown excellent critical taste in making his selections, very many of which would classify as literature of the best. The volume is one to pick up often for either brief or extended reading.

W. S. C.