THIS book is composed of selections from the dramatic criticisms of Bernard Shaw, which appeared in the London Saturday Review, beginning January 5th, 1895, and ending May 21st, 1898 -- a notable period in the history of that journal, for it inaugurated the regime of Frank Harris, and the ad- vent of such brilliant writers as Shaw, Harris, MacColl, Runciman, Cunninghame Graham, and other distinguished spirits. Bernard Shaw did not burst like a meteor upon the British metropolis; he was known and admired in certain circles before he took to the cart and trumpet. He was a bold man in the ranks of Socialists; he wrote novels and plays; he criticized music and pictures and, as he confesses, he lived through it all; indeed, he waxed strong therefrom. But he admits that the theatre nearly killed him. For over three years he sat in the seat of the critical mighty and filled his eyes and ears with bad, mad, and mediocre plays...