_The Spectator_ says:--"It is with no small satisfaction that we note the republication, under the title of 'A Nation in Arms,' of the speeches on the question of National Service delivered by Lord Roberts.... It is not the creation of a military caste for which he pleads, but the building up of the highest type of citizen--the citizen who is able to protect his native land and his rights and liberties himself and without external aid, and who believes that national safety is not to be hired, but to be achieved by self-sacrifice.... It is hardly necessary to say that Lord Roberts and those who agree with him ask for national training such as is willingly and cheerfully undergone by the citizens of Switzerland, not for that which is imposed on the German population. We have one more word to say--that is, to ask our readers to study carefully Lord Roberts' book. We would specially ask this of those who dread, and, as we hold, are right in dreading, militarism, and who look forward to universal peace as the ultimate goal for mankind. They will find that Lord Roberts has not a word to say in praise of war.... What he does desire is that as long as war continues--and no sane man can, unfortunately, doubt its continuance in our generation--the British people shall, when it comes, be prepared to meet it." THE RISE AND EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH DOMINION IN INDIA. By Sir Alfred Lyall. Fourth Edition, with a new Chapter bringing the History down to 1907. With Maps. Demy 8vo. 5s. net. OVER-SEA BRITAIN. A Descriptive Record of the Geography, the Historical, Ethnological, and Political Development, and the Economic Resources of the Empire. The Nearer Empire.--The Mediterranean, British Africa, and British America. By E.F. Knight. Author of "Where Three Empires Meet," "Small Boat Sailing," etc. With 9 Coloured Maps. Crown 8vo. 6s. Mr. E.F. Knight, the well-known traveller and war correspondent, in this volume gives a description of what he calls the Nearer Empire--_i.e._, the British possessions in the Mediterranean, Africa, and America. The book is no mere collection of geographical facts. It seeks to show what the Empire is, how it came to be, and what is the history of its growth. It deals also with the political development and the economic resources of the Colonies. The descriptive parts have an additional charm through being to a large extent a record of personal observation. To quote from the Preface:--"The author has travelled in most of the countries over which the British flag flies. He has witnessed, and on some occasions taken part in the making of several portions of that Empire in times both of peace and war, and has therefore been able to draw on his own personal experiences and observations when writing this short account of Britain beyond the seas."