NEW BOOKS .sx IN THE HEART OF SOUTH LONDON .sx By the RIGHT REV. CYRIL F. GARBETT , D.D. , Lord Bishop of Southwark .sx ( Longmans .sx 3s .sx 6d .sx ) South London is a place of grey and depressing uniformity .sx Though there exists no longer the acute destitution of the last decade of the nineteenth century , when the late Sir Charles Booth described the region as " the largest area of unbroken poverty in the world , " there is still to be found from Wandsworth to Woolwich " a vast interminable working-class town with few large houses or public buildings , with few open spaces and striking vistas .sx " Of the people living in this town , of their trials and their temptations , of their overcrowded and insanitary houses , the Bishop of Southwark writes with sympathy , insight , and imagination .sx Dr. Garbett's statements on the conditions of South London life have been gained from the first-hand knowledge of clergy and social workers and from his own careful observations .sx He has seen many of those one-roomed " homes , " where parents and four , five , or six children of varying ages , and sometimes of different sexes , live and sleep , and he is deeply concerned at the moral dangers to which overcrowding exposes the children .sx While the Bishop recognizes the great improvements in health and cleanliness seen in the children of school age , and pays a warm tribute to the efforts of administrators , teachers , doctors , nurses , and voluntary workers , he believes that the " social services will never reap their full harvest until the housing problem is solved .sx " Advance in this respect has , he finds , been slow and disappointing , compared with what has been done in other directions .sx Dr. Garbett gives full credit to the London County Council and to the borough authorities for the action taken since the War to meet the need for new houses and to sweep away some of the worst classes of insanitary property .sx But South London possesses an inheritance of badly planned premises , built on ill-drained marshes , some three-quarters of a century ago .sx There are many rat-infested houses and basement dwellings , damp and unhealthy .sx In fact Dr. Garbett estimates that a large part of the population , " possibly a quarter of a million , " are living in overcrowded or insanitary homes .sx The children suffer in many ways .sx They cannot go to bed until their parents return from public house or cinema , and so they are listless and tired when at lessons .sx The vermin in some of the houses also prevent the children from sleeping .sx The child from the over-crowded home has little chance of winning a scholarship or free place .sx Of 31 children who went on to secondary or central schools , practically all were drawn from the better neighbourhoods .sx The dangers of street traffic for the children are very great .sx In Southwark there are only 12 acres for every 100,000 of the population ; in Deptford 29 ; and in Bermondsey 64 .sx Dr. Garbett thinks that there is much to be said for blocking off certain streets in rotation for a few hours a day so that the children , whose only playground is the streets , might be safe there .sx There is , of course , no place in over-crowded homes where boys and girls who have gone to work can spend their evenings .sx The clubs and the evening continuation schools make great efforts to help the older children in the critical years between school and manhood , but the gap in State supervision from 14 to 16 , as in the case of the pre-school child , sows the seeds of damage , moral and physical , which are often only attended to when remedial measures are too late .sx The Bishop is impressed , too , with the long and late hours which boys of 14 and 15 work in unregulated occupations , " hours which would not be tolerated in any organized trade " and which " years ago the State should have made illegal .sx " Dr Garbett makes some valuable suggestions for dealing immediately with some of the worst evils of overcrowding .sx Some of the measures which he suggests are drastic , but he rightly says that " almost anything is better than to allow the children to spend year after year in the slums .sx " Particularly deplorable is the health of the women and children who live in the 30,000 basement dwellings of London , many of them below the level of the street .sx Those he would close by securing legislation to enable part of a house to be declared unfit for human habitation .sx Further , he would attack the general problem of overcrowded districts on four main lines .sx First he asks for a campaign against owners who neglect their property ; secondly , more work should be done in the way of reconditioning old houses ; thirdly , the poorer families must be enabled to pay the rent of new dwellings , and , to secure this , Dr. Garbett urges that there is a strong case for a rent rebate for each child .sx Many more new houses must be provided , not only by public authorities , but also by voluntary enterprise .sx Only then can what seems the most obvious step be taken - the closing and demolition of unfit houses .sx It is to be hoped that this admirable " Tract for the Times " will find many readers .sx It is a clear and impartial account , without technical details , of a great evil and of a good need .sx THE REPORT OF THE NINETEENTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS HELD AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE , LONDON .sx Published for the Conference Committee , 29 , Gordon-square , W.C. 4s .sx 6d .sx , post free .sx The report of the 1931 Conference of Educational Associations , admirably edited by the secretary , Miss M. A. Chellen , contains a full account of the inaugural meeting when the late president , Professor Winifred C. Cullis , handed over her office to Sir Richard Gregory .sx Meetings are reported of no fewer than 38 associations , in addition to the joint conference on the teaching of geography .sx Miss Busk , the honorary treasurer , says in a foreword that the Conference of 1931 was even better attended by members of the various associations than that of 1930 , while the number of non-members kept up , the total being well over 3,000 persons .sx THE POETIC PROCESSION :sx A Beginner's Introduction to English Poetry .sx By J. F. Roxburgh , Headmaster of Stowe School 7 x 5 .sx vi .sx + 90 pp .sx Oxford :sx Blackwell .sx 1s .sx Most people who compile anthologies of verse for beginners fall into the error of putting in only what they , as grown-ups , think is good ; or what they think a beginner ought to like ; or sometimes what ( if of the baser sort ) they think that other grown-up people will think should be offered as food for the minds of children .sx The happiest compiler of an anthology is the man or woman who does not lose the tastes of youth ; how far Mr. Roxburgh has kept them may be judged by the number of times his " Poetic Procession , " in its school edition , has had to set forth again , with colours flying , since he first launched it from the Lancing in 1921 .sx Of the informal lecture on which the verse is threaded ( the substance of two lectures given to working men at Brighton ) the author wrote in the paper pamphlet which was the first edition , " I just said what I wanted to say and not what I thought I ought to " ; that is the secret of its charm .sx W. A. S. Benson was one of the first reviewers to appreciate a new champion of Tennyson in an age which thought it clever to despise that great builder of sound-pictures , another such artificer , in words , as Morris and Burne-Jones and Benson himself had been in glass and paint and silver .sx A FIRST YEAR GERMAN COURSE .sx By L. M. HAYES , Senior Modern Languages Master , Merchant Taylors' School , Crosby .sx 7 x 4 , viii , + 94 pp .sx Blackie .sx 2s .sx 6d .sx The author apologizes for his inconsistency in mixing up the direct method with translation exercises , but that , no doubt , in practice is what a large number of language-teachers do .sx Some of the exercises have a pleasantly old-fashioned ring :sx " the teacher praises the work of his little " ; " The teacher gives each lazy boy a " ; others are in the ruthless style ; I pull the tail of our black " ; and " Does your father smoke cheap cigarettes ?sx " PROGRESSIVE PATTERN MAKING AND CUTTING OUT FOR NEEDLEWORK .sx By Mrs E. GRIFFITH .sx 10 x 7 , viii .sx + 107 pp .sx Milford :sx Oxford University Press .sx 4s .sx 6d .sx Begins with simple objects , such as bags and wallpockets , and goes on , through slippers and other articles requiring a little shaping , to the elements of garment-making on the " Magyar " principle .sx After that the pupil is led on progressively to fitting , shaping , and the setting in of sleeves .sx The careful and clever way in which the lessons are graded will appeal to those who have to plan courses for schools ; every stage is illustrated with clear drawings .sx PERIOD OF EUROPEAN HISTORY .sx Contemporary Europe and Overseas , 1898 - 1920 .sx By R. B. MOWAT , Professor of History in the University of Bristol .sx 7 x 5 , xxiv .sx + 392 pp .sx Rivingtons .sx 8s .sx 6d .sx n. .sx Sir Charles Oman began this series with a volume on the Dark Ages , which has been followed by seven others , bringing " the story of Europe and the study of international relations " down to 1899 .sx The new volume was written partly in England and partly in the United States ; it begins with an excellent bibliography and eleven pages of chronological summary , and after discussing the European situation at the beginning of the twentieth century and the tendencies of European development , deals with each country separately , ending with 150 pages on the War .sx TRUE STORIES OF MODERN EXPLORERS .sx By B. WEBSTER SMITH .sx 7 x 4 , 221 pp .sx Blackie .sx 2s .sx 6d .sx Dedicated to " every boy and girl who has any desire to roam over the wilder parts of the world .sx " The adventures described are those of Maldonado and Fawcett on the Amazon , Sven Hedin in Central Asia , Nansen in the Arctic , Boyd Alexander in the Congo , and other travellers , with a chapter on the Scott expedition , one on the " Attack upon Everest , " and one on the work of geologists in North Canada and Alaska .sx JUST ROUND THE CORNER .sx By W. R. CALVERT .sx 9 x 5 , 288 pp .sx Skeffington .sx 12s .sx 6d .sx n. .sx A collection of nature study articles from the Daily Dispatch .sx Squirrels , bats , voles , and woodmice ; rooks , ducks , and other birds ; frogs and flowers are in turn the subject of friendly investigation .sx MEMORANDA LATINA .sx By M. KEAN , Latin Examiner for the Central Welsh Board and London General Schools Examinations .sx 5 x 3 , vi .sx + 138 pp .sx Blackie .sx 1s .sx Many young people cramming for examinations like to have small books in their pockets to study at odd moments , and Mr. Kean has done them a good service in putting into handy form such rudiments " as they may fairly be expected to have learned by the third year of instruction .sx " SIX LITTLE GERMAN PLAYS .sx By JULIA TITTERTON , Formerly Assistant in the German Department , Edinburgh University .sx 6 x 4 , 55 pp .sx Blackie .sx 1s .sx 3d .sx Written for acting in class by children during their first year of German .sx At the end are a few little German songs ( unaccompanied ) which can be used as incidental music .sx PROBLEMS IN PRACTICAL PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY .sx By F. A. PHILBRICK .sx 7 x 5 , 146 pp .sx Dent .sx 3s .sx 6d .sx The author who is Assistant Master at Clifton College , has here collected over thirty problems , in each of which the methods of physical chemistry are applied to the solution of some particular investigation , and he recommends that the student should be encouraged to look upon each problem as a miniature research , and to use his own methods in addition to those suggested in the text .sx The book is one of Dent's Modern Science Series .sx CHEMICAL CHANGE .sx By DENNIS BROOK BRIGGS .sx 7 x 5 , 166 pp .sx Dent .sx 5s .sx This book , in the publisher's Modern Science Series , is included to provide an introduction to the more advance works on chemistry for those who have already been grounded in the elements of the subject and who propose to pursue their studies further , either at school or university .sx Mr. Briggs is Science Master at Bradfield College .sx NEW BOOKS .sx A HISTORY OF EDUCATIONAL THOUGHT .sx By PERCIVAL R. COLE .sx Vice-Principal , Sydney Teachers' College and Lecturer in Education , University of Sydney .sx ( H. Milford ; Oxford University Press .sx 10s .sx n. ) .sx