"Bertie's" Biography

KING EDWARD VII, Vol. I--Sir Sydney Lee--Macmillan ($8.00). A detailed biography of King Edward as Prince of Wales (1841-1901), written from a mass of official information by the editor of the British Dictionary of National Biography, authorized by King George V.

The author has been over-reticent in dealing with many of the episodes of "Bertie's" early life; he has been over-fearful of ruffling the supposed Germanophobe predilections of the reading public, as is witnessed by his fortuitous depreciation of the ex-Kaiser and his forced attempts to defend the Prince ; he has failed to bring out the Prince's personality and has depicted him more as a slave of convention than an independent and vital character.