BELGIUM ON FIFTY DOLLARS

By Sydney A. Clark 'is. Mcßride & Co., New York, 1935.

This is a little book which I would like to recommend to anyone who is going to spend a summer in Europe: it will draw him to this delightful little corner of the earth, "ce petit coin de terre," that is Belgium.

It is more than a guidebook, though it has-or perhaps just because it has-no pretention of being complete, I should like to call it an "Introduction" to travel in Belgium. It bears, what ordinary guidebooks lack, the imprint of the author's genuine enthusiasm for travel, and it communicates this enthusiasm to the reader. If Taine's contention is right, that a book is the "sign of a state of mind," Mr. Clark must indeed be a most delightful travel com- panion and guide. Without losing out of sight his sense for physical comfort and palatal enjoyments (the providing ground of which he has a keen sense for detecting everywhere at a low cost) he possesses an innate appreciation for beauty both in art and in nature. His inquisitive interest (though by no means pedantic, not even very thorough) in the social life of the people, as well now as in the historic past, and a sprinkling of benevolent humor lend to this little guide book a very human touch.

As a Belgian myself, I may say that Mr. Clark shows (with very few mistakes) a well-balanced discrimination between the relative value of things worth seeing and things to be omitted on a short ten-day tour. He will, for instance, devote two days at least to the quiet loveliness of the Ardennes Hills (an area, thank Heaven, still unknown to most tourists) with their historic chateaux, their forests and shady rivers.

When sightseeing the Grand Place in Brussels, which he terms the most beautiful square in the world, that even the Piazza San Marco in Venice cannot touch (I-agree with him), he advises the traveler to keep his Baedeker in his pocket, and "just stare."

If one overlooks some very rare historical and similar inaccuracies, it is really an excellent book of great practical value.