"He is a vivid portrayer of scenes visited, and in his descriptions, so admirably given, there is a self-evident authenticity that renders them charming."
BOSTON TRANSCRIPT:
"The late E. P. Whipple said, in a review of one of Mr. Ballou's books, 'Few persons have travelled so extensively, and no one more profitably both to himself and the reading public.' ... The first two chapters are devoted to Copenhagen and Denmark, so graphically described as to induce a strong desire to visit that extremely interesting Danish capital. From thence the narrative of the journey takes the reader into Norway and along one of the most remarkable coast lines in the world, indented by fjords deeper than the sea into whose bosom they empty."
THE BEACON (Boston):
"The book as a whole is very pleasant, very entertaining, very instructive, and very popular in the good sense of the word. It will help in destroying the popular prejudice about Northern and Eastern Europe which, strange to relate, is still supreme in our press and even in our literature, but is wholly unjustified."
NEW-ORLEANS TIMES-DEMOCRAT:
"A very charming book, ... a series of studies and sketches of Northern Europe, with myth and legend and historical fact interwoven, that makes it enchanting reading."
THE CHURCH REVIEW:
"Altogether, this is certainly one of the most successful and satisfactory books of its kind recently published."
THE WATCHMAN: