Excerpt: At the time when Mr. Cleveland was inaugurated there had been no Democratic President for a full quarter of a century. A whole generation had been born and had grown to manhood and to womanhood without ever having lived under any but Republican rule. This long continuance in power of a single party had led many citizens to identify the interest of that party with the interests of the nation. The democrats had been so invariably beaten at the polls as to make Republicans believe that the defeated party had no decent reason for existence, and that is was composed only of wilful obstructionists or of persons destitute of patriotism...

The Boys’ Life of Abraham Lincoln is a biography with many anecdotes that takes one deeper into the thoughts, personality, and beliefs of the man that was Lincoln. While the title indicates the book is about Lincoln’s life as a boy, the book is a full, if somewhat shortened biography. It is very well written and was a joy to record. One might ask, "Who was Helen Nicolay?" Her father, John George Nicolay, was Abraham Lincoln's private secretary and doubtless much of the material comes from his complete biography of Abraham Lincoln. (

Sketches of those who braved the 'Great White North' in exploration and adventure. - Summary by KevinS

A simple history of England written principally with words of one syllable. Books of these kind, I understand, are helpful for both beginning and remedial reading students. - Summary by KevinS

This book consists of simple biographies of the first 23 Presidents of the United States written chiefly in words of one syllable. Books such as this one were popular around the turn of the 20th century as a way to help children learn to read. A book like this could also be useful for ESL learners as well. - Summary by Mark Dykshoorn

History made interesting for young readers—This Country of Ours by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall provides a simple and easy to comprehend way of looking at the history of the United States. Arranged chronologically in seven long chapters, it presents events in a story form, making them memorable and very different from other formats. One of the challenges that writers of history face is about fleshing out the characters and making the bland repetition of dates and dynasties seem relevant to modern day readers...

An aristocratic Frenchwoman's personal record of the dazzling extravagance of the Ancien Régime, of the court of Marie Antoinette, of the Revolution, of her life in exile and of the court of Napoleon Bonaparte. This famous historically valuable memoir, written for her son, ends with Napoleon's return from Elba in 1815.