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It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the French Revolution in Russian intellectual life. One could even make the claim that the French Revolution has had a more significant impact on modern Russian history than it has had upon modern French history! Indeed, since the end of the nineteenth century, the French Revolution has become passe in France in the sense that no Frenchman has looked at it as a blueprint for current political development. While there have been cases in which some of the old revolutionary images were invoked to bolster support for certain political activities (such as support for the war against Germany), it has never been wholeheartedly re‐embraced and there has been a sense of detachment about the revolution, a sense that modern conditions were somehow different.

Explains that Michael Polanyi was an internationally reputed philosopher who may be remembered as the greatest epistemologist of the twentieth century. The one aspect of his philosophy which has been neglected is his philosophy of history. Sets out to explicate Polanyi’s interpretation of the history of the late modern period. He emphasized the historical importance of three revolutions: the French Revolution; the Bolshevik Revolution; and the Hungarian Revolution. Polanyi called for a return to traditional moral values, such as truth, justice, and love. Presents a clarification of Polanyi’s interpretation of late modern history which it is hoped will contribute to the resolution of the crisis which threatens contemporary civilization.

Here Marx's philosophy is dissected from the angle of bourgeois capitalism which he, Marx, sought to overcome. His social, political and economic ideas are criticised. Although it is noted that Marx wanted to ameliorate human suffering, the result turned out to be Utopian, contrary to his own intentions. Contrary to Marx, it is individualism that makes the best sense and capitalism that holds out the best hope for coping with most of the problems he sought to solve. Marx's philosophy is alluring but flawed at a very basic level, namely, where it denies the individuality of each person and treats humanity as “an organic body”. Capitalism, while by no means out to guarantee a perfect society, is the best setting for the realisation of the diverse but often equally noble human goals of its membership.

“All things are in a constant state of change”, said Heraclitus of Ephesus. The waters if a river are for ever changing yet the river endures. Every particle of matter is in continual movement. All death is birth in a new form, all birth the death of the previous form. The seasons come and go. The myth of our own John Barleycorn, buried in the ground, yet resurrected in the Spring, has close parallels with the fertility rites of Greece and the Near East such as those of Hyacinthas, Hylas, Adonis and Dionysus, of Osiris the Egyptian deity, and Mondamin the Red Indian maize‐god. Indeed, the ritual and myth of Attis, born of a virgin, killed and resurrected on the third day, undoubtedly had a strong influence on Christianity.

Presents Frédéric Le Play ‐ French author who lived in the nineteenth century ‐ as a precursor of social economics. In the first place, characterizes this perspective, which is critical of the classical theory. Analyses some of its postulates and reviews some examples of authors and schools sharing this approach. Situates Le Play’s thought in the context of the philosophical traditions of his epoch. Describes the elements in his works which are typical of the social economics currents: the examination of the relationships between economic and social phenomena; the introduction of institutional elements in the economic analysis; the rejection of the market’s “invisible hand” as a mechanism able to generate wellbeing for the entire society; the influence of traditional values and customs in the economic behaviour; and the inductive logic of his methodology. Discusses the suitability of Le Play’s ideas for the present time.

A narration of the fascinating history of the Du Pont Company could almost fill volumes and it would be temptingly easy to utilise the journalistic cliché that here ‘space does not permit’ an in‐depth documentation of the company's development and multi‐faceted diversification. However, for those unaware of the origins of this giant organisation's activities, a brief summary would take us back to 1799, in the wake of the French Revolution, when a French family set sail for America on the American Eagle, with aspirations to establish a colony in Virginia. This aim did not materialise, but in 1802 one of the sons, Eleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours, a former chemistry student of Lavoisier, formed his company on a piece of land along the banks of the Brandywine River near Wilmington, Delaware.

WHEN librarians meet and talk “shop,” it isn't usually long before someone is trying to argue about the provision of lighter material— the ephemeral novels, travel, and biography, the stocking of which none of us is prepared to justify on their merits, but for which there is steady, and heavy, public demand. It is, perhaps, a pity that “shop” is much less often concerned with the old than the new. The omission may be due to the fact that many librarians have become unduly obsessed with new books. We are told that a public library is judged by its service of new books. It might be better, I think, to judge it by its service of books.

Descriptive data are used to illustrate periods of violence and of peace since 1740. The focus is on six time periods and four areas (North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia). Fatality rates are compared and the results suggest that the present day is a time of relative peace.

The National Library of Australia has a small but interesting collection of rare books and manuscripts. These collections are the legacy of a remarkable period of growth in the Library’s history. Strengths are greatest in UK and European materials, particularly from the eighteenth century. The present collecting activities of the library are concentrated on Australian and Asian materials. While very early imprints are now less likely to be collected, the library has a number of collections of scarce and unusual works relating to Asia and the Pacific.