The Birth of Modern Education: The Contribution of the Dissenting Academies 1660–1800. By J. W. Ashley Smith. London: Independent Press Ltd., 1954. xii & 329 pages. 19/6. (Distributed in the U. S. A. by Alec R. Allenson, Inc., 81 West Van Buren Street, Chicago 5, Illinois; $4.00)