MARY PLATT PARMELE
AUTHOR OF
"Who? When? What?" "France," "Germany," "England," Etc.
Price,
Post-paid
75 Cents
From New York Sun Editorial Dec. 30, 1896.
In too many of the little school histories there is but a tedious, bare narrative of apparently 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 so many of the histories prepared for them. Mrs. Parmele very truly remarks that the child, bewildered in a labyrinth of unfamiliar names and events, fails to grasp the main lines and soon dislikes history, simply because he has been studying, not with a thinking mind, but with one overtaxed faculty, memory, intended to be the humble handmaid of the higher faculties. In the work under consideration, she begins with the first voyage of Columbus and brings us down to the principal events of 1893; she is sparing of details, and has merely skeletonized her theme, adding sufficient of incident, to avoid dryness. It seems a meritorious and well-prepared work, and a chronological table adds to its value.—The Detroit Free Press.