unconnected facts, and there is a profitless
rigmarole of dates and names: but when the sequence of cause and effect is
not obscured, and form and life are given to the actors, and the
development of events and institutions is traced, the story of the United
States becomes, as it should become, the most, fascinating as it is the
most important of histories to Americans; and whatever in historical
inquiry and writing promotes accuracy, adds detail, and clears up
obscurity, increases the worth and the, charm of the work.

W.B. Harison has published in his "Evolution of Empire" series, a brief
historical sketch of the United States, by Mary Platt Parmele, whose other
volumes in the series have received cordial praise. In this book one finds
the story of our country told in about 300 pages, and very interestingly
is it written. The book leaves out the innumerable incidents and figures
which are of great importance to students, but which are not necessary in
a book for general reading, and presents the narrative in a graphic
manner, in which the interest of the reader never flags. The book is bound
in blue buckram and costs but 75 cents. The other volumes in the series
deal with the histories of France, England, and Germany, in the same
brilliant vein.--_Hartford Post._

Its value does not lie in the multitude of facts which it contains, but
rather in the lucid, natural way in which a few really important facts are
presented and grouped, and in the stimulus which it imparts to a rational
study of our country's history.--_The Review of Reviews._

In "The Evolution of an Empire," Mary Platt Parmele has endeavored to give
in outline the story of the discovery, settlement, and development of the
United States of America, touching only upon vital points and excluding
all detail. The task has been a most difficult one on account of the
constant temptation to deal with matters of minor importance. The author
has, however, succeeded in making a very acceptable book.--_Boston
Transcript._

The latest issue in the "Evolution of an Empire" series is Mary Platt
Parmele's "History of the United States." It is a short and simple
outline, which presents in a book of about 300 pages the main facts of our
national history, and a very fair and judicial presentment it is, too.
While the general reader will find it of interest, it has been prepared
more particularly for the young, who are easily wearied by the prolix
details which encumber