This book makes no claim to add to our scientific knowledge of glaciers or glaciology. Neither is it addressed to the mountaineer for otherwise it would be open to criticism on account of some statements which might mislead him. It is a book, however, that will whet the appetite of anybody first visiting the Alps or of anybody thinking about glaciers for the first time, and as such it is welcomed.

The Publishers claim that this work is “the first of its kind” and that it contains a unique series of photographs. They seem to have overlooked earlier works, particularly The Oberland and its Glaciers by H. B. George (Editor of The Alpine Journal), with photographs by Ernest Edwards and published by Alfred W. Bennett in 1866. Many subjects photographed in the book under review are to be found in the earlier one and, in the reviewer’s copy, its original photographs can still bear comparison with some of the modern ones.

The topographical details are instructive and satisfactory except that when the Author states that the Aletsch Glacier is 15 miles long he appears to have forgotten that the glacier from the Jungfraujoch to the Konkordiaplatz is the Jungfraufivn and that the Grosser Aletschfirn, and thus the Aletsch Glacier proper, commences at the hötschenlücke (pages 39, 85–86, 117). The hyphenated “Jung-frau” appears several times and cannot be regarded as a misprint. It is to be hoped that it will not be copied.

The lover of poetry will be sorry to see (page 32) that the moment of exaltation which led Coleridge to write his paean of praise “…. Before Sun-rise, in the Vale of Chamouni,” has been attributed to Shelley.

The photographs should prove a considerable attraction but they cannot be favourably compared with recently published mountain picture hooks at a similar price by well-known authors. As these photographs are the product of a F.R.P.S. it must be assumed that the original negatives are good. The illustrations, however, frequently lack detail or contrast and in some cases appear out of focus.

In spite of these few inaccuracies it can be said that the book should serve as a useful introduction for the layman and the tourist to the many interesting and scenically grand features of the Alpine glacier regions. It also gives a good general idea of the structure and functions of glaciers.