A Short History of the Fatimid Khalifate

By de Lacy O'Leary, D.D.; lecturer in Aramaic and Syraic; Bristol University. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., London, E.P. Dutton & Co. Pp. viii, 268, 1923; 10s 6d

This is a useful popular treatise on an interesting period of the history of North Africa. It is based on Oriental sources, and therefore gives a different view from that of Western historians. It does not claim however, to be an original study in this special field, and the bibliography given at the end of the book includes only "Original authorities accessible in translations or extracts." The work is well written and is attractive in appearance, but the printing is disfigured by an extraordinary number of misprints, not only in proper names and Arabic words, but in many cases ordinary English words are misspelt, letters and even lines transposed, and the same word is sometimes spelt in two different ways on the same page.

W.G.S.