The Beginners of a Nation / A History of the Source and Rise of the Earliest English Settlements in America, with Special Reference to the Life and Character of the People

"The book is of great practical value, as many of the essays throw a broad light over living questions of the day. Prof. McMaster has a clear, simple style that is delightful. His facts are gathered with great care, and admirably interwoven to impress the subject under discussion upon the mind of the reader."—Chicago Inter-Ocean.

"Prof. McMaster's essays possess in their diversity a breadth which covers most of the topics which are current as well as historical, and each is so scholarly in treatment and profound in judgment that the importance of their place in the library of political history can not be gainsaid."—Washington Times.

"Such works as this serve to elucidate history and make more attractive a study which an abstruse writer only makes perplexing. All through the studies there is a note of intense patriotism and a conviction of the sound sense of the American people which directs the government to a bright goal."—Chicago Record.

"A wide field is here covered, and is covered in Prof. McMaster's own inimitable and fascinating style.... Can not but have a marked value as a work of reference upon several most important subjects."—Boston Daily Advertiser.

"There is much that is interesting in this little book, and it is full of solid chunks of political information."—Buffalo Commercial.

"Clear, penetrating, dispassionate, convincing. His language is what one should expect from the Professor of American History in the University of Pennsylvania. Prof. McMaster has proved before now that he can write history with the breath of life in it, and the present volume is new proof."—Chicago Tribune.

"Of great practical value.... Charming and instructive history."—New Haven Leader.

"An interesting and most instructive volume."—Detroit Journal.

"At once commends itself to the taste and judgment of all historical readers. His style charms the general reader with its open and frank ways, its courageous form of statement, its sparkling, crisp narrative and description, and its close and penetrating analysis of character and events."—Boston Courier.

"In every way worthy of an author who, as an authority upon the Western Indians, is second to none. A book full of color, abounding in observation, and remarkable in sustained interest, it is at the same time characterized by a grace of style which is rarely to be looked for in such a work, and which adds not a little to the charm of it"—London Daily Chronicle.

"Only an author qualified by personal experience could offer us a profitable study of a race so alien from our own as is the Indian in thought, feeling, and culture. Only long association with Indians can enable a white man measurably to comprehend their thoughts and enter into their feelings. Such association has been Mr. Grinnell's."—New York Sun.

"A book which everyone should read over and over again.... We have carefully run through it, and laid it down with the feeling that some such book ought to find its way into every household."—New York Herald.

"A monumental volume, which no American who cares for the memory of the public men of his country can afford to be without."—New York Mail and Express.

"Just the sort of book that the American who wishes to fix in his mind the varying phases of his country's history as it is woven on the warp of the administrations will find most useful. Everything is presented in a clear-cut way, and no pleasanter excursions into history can be found than a study of 'The Presidents of the United States.'"—Philadelphia Press.

"A valuable addition to both our biographical and historical literature, and meets a want long recognized."—Boston Advertiser.

"So scholarly and entertaining a presidential biography has never before appeared in this country.... It is bound to become the standard of its kind."—Binghamton Herald.

"It is precisely the book which ought to have a very wide sale in this country—a book which one needs to own rather than to read and lay aside. No common-school library or collection of books for young readers should be without it."—The Churchman.

"General Wilson has performed a public service in presenting this volume to the public in so attractive a shape. It is full of incentive to ambitious youth; it abounds in encouragement to every patriotic heart."—Charleston News and Courier.

"There is an added value to this volume because of the fact that the story of the life of each occupant of the White House was written by one who made a special study of him and his times.... An admirable history for the young."—Chicago Times.

"Such a work as this can not fail to appeal to the pride of patriotic Americans."—Chicago Dial.

"These names are in themselves sufficient to guarantee adequacy of treatment and interest in the presentation, and it is safe to say that such succinct biographies of the complete portrait gallery of our Presidents, written with such unquestioned ability, have never before been published."—Hartford Courant.

"A book well worth owning, for reading and for reference.... A complete record of the most important events in our history during the past one hundred and five years."—The Outlook.

"The most sumptuous and elaborate work which has yet appeared on this theme.... The book should be in every well-equipped Oriental library, as the most complete work on the dawn of civilization. Its careful reading and studying will open a world of thought to any diligent student, and very largely broaden and enlarge his views of the grandeur, the stability, and the positive contributions of the civilization of that early day to the life and culture of our own times."—Chicago Standard.

"By all odds the best account of Egyptian and Assyrian theology, or more properly speaking, theosophy, with which we are acquainted.... The book will arouse many enthusiasms. Its solid learning will enchant the scholar—its brilliancy will charm the general reader and tempt him into a region which he may have hesitated to enter."—The Outlook.

"For a general comprehension of the dawn of civilization we know of no stronger work."—New York Times.

"You no sooner open it at random than you discover that every paragraph is alluring and instructive. You may not hope to read it through, even in a dozen sittings, but you can not give a glance at any one of its pages without having your attention specially challenged."—New York Herald.

"The most complete reconstruction of that ancient life which has yet appeared in print. Maspero's great book will remain the standard work for a long time to come."—London Daily News.

"A lucid sketch, at once popular and learned, of daily life in Egypt at the time of Rameses II, and of Assyria in that of Assurbanipal.... As an Orientalist, M. Maspero stands in the front rank, and his learning is so well digested and so admirably subdued to the service of popular exposition, that it nowhere overwhelms and always interests the reader."—London Times.

"Only a writer who had distinguished himself as a student of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities could have produced this work, which has none of the features of a modern book of travels in the East, but is an attempt to deal with ancient life as if one had been a contemporary with the people whose civilization and social usages are very largely restored."—Boston Herald.

"A most interesting and instructive book. Excellent and most impressive ideas also of the architecture of the two countries and of the other rude but powerful art of the Assyrians, are to be got from it."—Brooklyn Eagle.

"The ancient artists are copied with the utmost fidelity, and verify the narrative so attractively presented."—Cincinnati Times-Star.

"The field is comparatively new, and Mr. Maclay has brought to his task patience, assiduity, and patriotism.... Maps and plans, and a great number of illustrations, add value to the book, which is designed to be a permanent and useful contribution to historical literature."—New York Observer.

"While the author has had the assistance of Lieut. Roy C. Smith, U. S. N., in preparing those parts of his work which are necessarily technical, he has wisely refrained from confusing the general reader by an undue parade of technicalities.... The narrative proceeds in a clear, concise, and vigorous style, which very materially adds to the character of the work."—New York Journal of Commerce.

"The author writes as one who has digged deep before he began to write at all. He thus appears as a master of his material. This book inspires immediate confidence as well as interest."—New York Times.

"A most conscientious narrative, from which wise statesmen may learn much for their guidance, and it certainly is one of absorbing interest."—New York Commercial Advertiser.

"Mr. Maclay is specially qualified for the work he has undertaken. Nine years has he devoted to the task. The result of his labors possesses not only readableness but authority.... Mr. Maclay's story may be truthfully characterized as a thrilling romance, which will interest every mind that is fed by tales of heroism, and will be read with patriotic pride by every true American."—Chicago Evening Post.

"A more valuable and important work of history than this has not been issued from the press for many a day. It is not only that this book tells a story never before told (for Cooper's works never professed to tell the whole story of our navy, even down to his own day), but that it is told with true historic sense, and with the finest critical acumen."—New York Evangelist.

"A work which is destined to fill a noticeable gap in our national annals."—Philadelphia Bulletin.

"No better excuse for this important work could be desired than that a navy with such a brilliant career on the whole as has the American navy is without a full and continuous record of its achievement.... The author has important new facts to tell, and he tells them in a clear and graceful literary style."—Hartford Post.

"Mr. Maclay has deservedly won for himself an enviable place among our American historians.... His researches have been exhaustive and his inquiries persistent, and he has used his wealth of material with a proper appreciation of historical value."—Boston Advertiser.

"Like the average young American, this author has an enthusiastic appreciation of American valor on the high seas, and he reproduces graphic sketches of battle scenes and incidents in a way to insure for his book a hearty welcome on the part of these who keenly enjoy this sort of literature.... The illustrations of the old battle ships and the conflicts at sea, made memorable as long as the history of the American Republic shall live, add much to the attractiveness of this book.... Professor Maclay has added a substantial work to historical American literature."—Philadelphia Telegraph.

"It fills a place which has almost escaped the attention of historians. Mr. Maclay's work shows on every page the minute care with which he worked up his theme. His style is precise and clear, and without any pretense of rhetorical embellishment."—New York Tribune.