Current Literature
THE. OXFORD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES; 1783-1917. By S. E. Morison. (Oxford University Press. Two volumes. 32s.)—Professor Morison, of Harvard; who recently occupied the chair of American History at Oxford; used his leisure in that " haven of scholarly ease and quiet contemplation " to write a history of his own country for English, readers. He has been remarkably successful in pro- ducing a compact-narrative which is clear, dispassionate, and extremely readable. If in details we might often differ from the author, we can none the less commend the book as a whole. He knows the points on which English people desire to be informed and the special difficulties which they find in reading American history. He emphasizes the primary importance of the frontier—the westward movement of the people into the prairies and over the Rockies ; he tells the story of the Civil War very fairly, though from the Northern standpoint ; he does not disguise the grievous errors of the Northern Radicals after the war, in punishing the South ; and his sketch of the era of corruption that followed is frank- ness itself. Every Englishman ought to read the book, for it will help to that understanding of the American people which is essential to the improvement of the relations between the two countries. Professor Morison appends a full and excellent bibliography, including the most recent books, and his maps are among the best that we have ever seen in an American history.
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