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