Anyone interested in the organization of a major charity will find Two Ears of Corn by Mervyn Jones (Hodder and Stoughton, 2i/-) a stimulating work.

This is the story of the growth of Oxfam from an inaugural meeting held by a few members of the Society of Friends in Oxford in October, 1942. It was not until 1946 that the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, as it was then known, acquired staff and premises, and two years after that there was some discussion on whether the organization should be closed down or extended. Since then the achievements in relieving hunger all over the world offer a remarkable story of success.

Mr. Jones's account is a lively one. Occasionally comments such as the statement "unlike some older charities Oxfam cannot expect to get much money without working for it" may cause a wry smile from workers for the life-boat service. Nevertheless this is a worth-while study in modern, high-pressure methods of organizing a charity. The publishers, who paid for the author's expenses in assembling his material, agreed to donate any profit from the sale of the book to the funds of Oxfam.

The Art of Summary by G. W. Dennis and D. W. H. Sharp (Longmans, Green and Co., 8/-) provides a series of exercises in the use of the English language. One section offers a test of skill in writing for different types of publication, and in it pupils are asked to re-write the account of a service by the Berwick-upon-Tweed life-boat which appeared in The Life-boat for December, 1963, as it might appear in a newspaper..