BIG FAMILY OF PEOPLES

A world history by peoples, this trots briskly back and forth over ages and areas, tying up one package and then running back quickly to start another to make up for the deficiencies of the previous. From the Neolithic to the modern American the author takes each of her men, Egyptian, African, French, etc., from their beginnings to the present day, establishing in each story as much contact with all others as space permits and touching, sometimes enlighteningly, sometimes confusingly, on the highlights of each. For example, the last few centuries of Egyptian history are tossed off with these sentences; ""Next the Arabians threw the Romans out and took the country over. Centuries later, around A. D. 1169, came the Turks."" But compensation is found in such things as the logical dispersion of tribes in Africa, the natural development of different culture traits. Especially as it is without illustrations, such an all encompassing work is hard put to be more than a flash in the pan, but in its function as a stimulus it serves not too badly. For television geared mentalities.