Kiera Drake makes her novel debut with The Continent. As a friend of hers, I felt compelled to read it; my curiosity was drawn by the cover and had an interest in what she wrote. The book is 336 pages ...

THE ALL-AMERICAN FRONT — Duncan Aikman—Doubleday, Doran ($3). SOUTHWARD Ho!—William LaVarre—Doubleday, Doran ($3). THE GREAT NATURALISTS EXPLORE SOUTH AMERICA—Paul Russell Cufrighf—Macmillan ($3.50).

LOST ATLANTIS — James Bramwell — Harper ($2.75). Ignatius Donnelly was known in his own day as the foremost exponent of the Baconian theory (that Bacon wrote Shakespeare). Author of an emphatic volume ...

Two hundred billion dollars. That was the estimated value of China's trade with Africa in 2012—more than 20 times the amount at the start of the century. Such is the continent's importance to China ...