American and English readers will welcome the translation of Professor Gide's book. It is neither a primer for beginners, nor a dissertation for the learned, but a guide-book for serious students who have mastered the economical alphabet, and are feeling their way to a judgment of their own on economical subjects. Its place in French economic literature is almost unique. It is helping many a young Frenchman to turn his attention to economic theory, and to study it in the light of the latest discussions. Professor Gide has Adam Smith's faculty of making his readers think for themselves, and accept no conclusion without following out the process that leads to it. He lays a just emphasis on the need of impartiality and freedom from prejudice. In a book written for real students of a subject, the truth should be told without reserve or fear of consequences.