Abstract

The Near East

This article presents information on the book "The Balkans: A Laboratory of History," by William M. Sloane. Sloane has constructed this book mainly upon the foundation of a series of articles written for periodicals. Revision has not introduced sufficient unity and proportion to make of the whole an enlightening interpretation of the latest acute phase of the question of the Near East. Much information is given, however, regarding the history and character of the various peoples now in the Balkan peninsula. The second half of the book follows the external events of the last years, gives special attention to the formation of the Balkan alliance, and in the last two chapters, which are distinctly the best in the book, reviews the action of the six great European Powers and surveys the present situation.