"The Handbook of New England," by Porter E. Sargent '96, is a surprisingly complete compilation of most interesting and universally enlightening and useful statistics, covering all phases of New England life. Written primarily for the summer visitor to this district, and especially for the motorist, this volume yet contains a great deal of material, both historical and industrial, which cannot fail to interest the most casual reader.

Mr. Sargent has succeeded in doing a hard job well. He has so interwoven and proportioned facts of antiquity, descriptions of old houses, historical data, present-day industrial notations, descriptions of natural features and directions to motorists, that what might well have been a dry-as-dust compendium is filled with lively interest. And to this is added an arrangement so carefully worked out, an index so complete and cross-references so accurate that the Handbook makes an unusually convenient reference-book.

If, occasionally, details of relative unimportance seem to be given undue prominence, facts are somewhat mixed up and omissions are found, the detriment is negligible compared with the efficacy of the whole.