1329. 166 The Annals of the American Academy what would the authors do with similar conditions which we know to exist in many staid New England rural communities? One feels that there is little meaning to "race" in rural America social behavior. Again the book portrays a certain "moral infamy" of Indian blood - a conclusion that might carry weight somewhere if it were not a fortunate fact that considerable ethnological knowledge of American Indians exists among school-children and scout organizations, as well as among the reading populace, to act as a safeguard against such careless use of the term "Indian" as it is applied to the customs and habits of a group of mountaineers who have completely acculturated European ways. As to "mongrel Virginians" of this mixture, the proud descendants of Pocahontas now living in the state and numbering thousands, according to their published genealogy, need have no fear of their mentality-grades, nor need they tremble for the fate of their offspring, even if they are to be listed among the "mongrel Virginians" on account of their Indian mixture, "which lowers the level of whites!" Finally, if the book were well written, well edited - but enough has been said! I repeat the third sentence of this review. A really absurd and useless book! Iconoclast. J. Ramsey MacDonald (1923-1925). Pp. 191. New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1925. This is a persuasive book presented from the viewpoint of labor, one that should not be overlooked by any person drawn to MacDonald, and puzzled by him. It is an analysis of the political situation confronting him when he became premier, his outstanding accomplishments during his few months in office, of the undercurrents and other events leading to the downfall of his ministry, and of the dominant traits of his magnetic and baffling personality-an explanation of the man by one who has had long experience with him and has a warm comprehension of those elements of his nature that make him the great and interesting man that he is. It is a singularly well-written book, candid and sympathetic, and cannot but be of real value to anyone interested in the British labor movement and its leader. Iconoclast. J. Ramsay MacDonald - The Man of Tomorrow. Pp xii, 290. New York: Thomas Seltzer, 1924. This is a brief record of Ramsay MacDonald's early life, and a more thorough study of his connection with the British Labor party, and of his own stand before, during, and after the war. It reveals the background against which MacDonald emerged as Prime Minister in 1924. Woodhead, H. G. W., Norton, H. K., and Arnold, Julean. Occidental Interpretations of the Far Eastern Problem. Pp. 253. Price, $2.00. University of Chicago Press, 1925. Soyeshima, Count Michimasa and Kuo, Dr. P. W. Oriental Interpretations of the Far Eastern Problem. Pp. 220. Price, $2.00. University of Chicago Press, 1925. These books contain the Norman Walt Harris Lectures of 1925 at the University of Chicago, delivered by prominent men who knew what they were talking about, a necessary condition precedent lacking in most books on the Far East. Their presentation of facts, governed of course by their viewpoints, may be taken as authority. In the Occidental Interpretations, Mr. Woodhead gives a good review of recent Chinese politics, especially the tortuous series of events of the day. Yuan Shi-kai's career is noted rather sympathetically, and Sun Yat-sen is presented in his true light, a sort of De Valere of China as I have always termed him; a visionary, but certainly not the constructive statesman which China needed after the fall of the Manchus. Quite a contrast to Dr. Dewey's estimation of the value of the students and their work is the author's disparaging review of their influence in China. In fact, to him, they are miniature Sun Yat-sens. The British policy is warmly defended, and the old Chinese ever-active diplomacy of creating dissension among the Powers, aided by Bolshevik propaganda, are his main explanations for the present state of affairs. [end]