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BOOK REVIEWS
Mr. Stephen by Terence De Vere White; Victor
Gollancz Limited; £1.80p.
On the whole the clients in this story are of the un-
pleasant kind. The author covers a small canvas but
it is almost as full of characters and action as a
Breughel painting.
The scene is Dublin, or the corner of it which houses
its legal life, the time today. The characters read like
the dramatis personae of a theatrical comedy. Stephen
Foster, head of Foster & Foster Solicitors, profession-
ally impeccable, a bachelor—wary and wise, who is
sought after by clients and by Government ministers;
Arthur Evans, the President of the Law Society,
genial, trusted, full of worldly common sense;
Richard Curtis, clever, over-ambitious, a practitioner
on other mens' weaknesses; these with Stephen's two
partners and young Brian Fagan, assistant solicitor and
"favourite son" make up the professional caste. Curran,
the conveyancing clerk who is given to prayer and port
wine and peppermint; Ernie Evans the rascally builder
with the fixed grin and parrot stare; Col. O'Flaherty,
an Anglo-Irish Poona type; Sammy Haggart, weak,
spendthrift and permanently broke, with the wives of
the main characters and a love-lorn shorthand typist
all drop into place as naturally as the pieces in a jig-
saw puzzle.
Foster, "Mr. Stephen" to his office staff, is overtaken
by Nemesis for a long forgotten slip, morally justified
perhaps, but professionally mortal, just as he reaches
a new summit of his career (one gathers that he may
be a past President). What is he to do when faced with
the threat of proceedings, which may ruin his prospects
and the future of the firm? Pay up or stand and fight?
Around this dilemma the author weaves a story with
many fascinating insights into the temperaments and
reactions of the actors and an ever present humour.
As the final chapter drops the curtain with an O.
Henry surprise dénoument one wonders whether justice
has been satisfied.
The publishers' blurb describes this novel as Mr.
De Vere White's biggest achievement. To one reader it
is certainly the most entertaining. It is also instructive
and might well be recommended reading for appren-
tices.
EAP
Land Law Cases and Material; R. H. Maudsley and E.
H. Burn; 2nd edn., pp. 719; Butterworths (Paperback),
1970.
It is at first sight somewhat ironical that the use of the
Case book in English law teaching is increasing greatly
while at the same time its use in its country of origin,
the United States, is being questioned and is on the
decline. The explanation of the irony is perhaps to be
found in the preface to the first edition of this book
where the Authors stated clearly that their work was
to be a supplement to and not a substitute for a text
book whereas in the United States Case books have
long been used as such substitutes. Clearly there are
many subjects in which they are not suited as sub-
stitutes for text books and it is this view which is gain-
ing the upper hand in the United States currently.
The subject of Land Law and indeed its application
in conveyancing is one that readily lends itself to use
of the Cast book as a supplementary to the text book.
It is unfortunate for the Irish student or practitioner
that there is so much in this book which does not
apply to Ireland. Nevertheless the sections of it which
can be used safely by people concerned with Irish law
are extremely useful and it is a book to which practi-
tioners might well prefer to refer on the occasions on
which they are forced back on to some theoretical
aspect of the law of property. The extracts from the
cases and other materials are well presented while the
linking commentary as one has come to expect from
any work with which Professor Maudsley is associated
is admirably concise and intelligible.
J. F. BUCKLEY
Income and Sur Tax by Peter G. Whiteman LLB,
(London), Barrister of Law, and G.S.A. Wheatcroft,
M.A. (Oxon.). J.P. Solicitor and Professor Emeritus of
English Law, University of London; 8vo; pp.915; Lon-
don, Sweet & Maxwell, 1971; £12.75
This book may be taken by the profession as "the new
Wheatcroft on Income Tax". Although Wheatcroft
makes a very gracious tribute to the young first named
author ,Whiteman, a former pupil of his who was
called to the Bar in 1967, by stating in his preface :
"The present book, although based on my old one, has
been completely rewritten and rearranged by Mr.
Whiteman with only limited assistance from me. At my
suggestion, it therefore appears with his name above
mine on the title page, as in my opinion it is now a
much better book than mine was", nevertheless, the
book will carry all the prestige of the second named
author, and all the authority of his own work of 1962.
And of course this new book will form volume I of
the U.K. Tax Encyclopaedia as its predeecssor did—
no mean recommendation in itself. As for this book
itself, it sets out to demonstrate that the law of tax, no
less than any other branch of the law, is a matter of
principles susceptible of logical and orderly analysis
and presentation. The authors expressed themselves as
having been inspired by "the deep intellectual contri-
bution of Judges like Lord Radcliffe or Rowlatt J. to
name but two distinguished men, who in the course of
their judicial careers searched out, found and expand-
ed the principles of the Income Tax code."
Certain basic changes have been made in the arrange-
ment and style of presentation from those adopted in
the previous book, namely, (i) the names of cases con-
sidered are stated in the text and not relegated to the
footnotes; (ii) the facts of important cases are stated in
some detail in the text, together with quotations from
the judgments where these indicate important prin-
ciples; (iii) The main statutory provisions are referred
to in the text and set out in detail. This latter change
is to be welcomed if only because this book is written
by reference to the latest U.K. consolidated Income
and Corporation Taxes Act of 1970 which means that
Irish readers would need a copy of that Act, yet another
table of cross reference between the Irish Income Tax
Acts and the aforementioned U.K. Act, in order to
refer to the Irish provisions when reading this book.
In the Preface, the authors state that cases cited in
the text have been "considered" by them. In fact at
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