Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/917

 Hosmcr : Civil War 907 political struggle and the nearly even division of the voters between the Republican and Democratic parties was to intensify political feeling as perhaps in no other New England state, and explains the exceptionally strong party organizations of New Hampshire during that period. The numerous sketches of the political friends and opponents of Mr. Rollins have been penned with charity, and some perhaps disclose fewer wrinkles and warts than the actual faces of these battling politi- cians revealed to their contemporaries. The brief sketch given on page 44 of Ruel Durkee, who is popularly assumed to have been the original of Jethro Bass, one of the chief figures in Winston Churchill's famous novel, Conisfoii, is of especial interest. Scant reference is made to the political ethics of the period, and the .reader will regret the omission of a fuller statement of the policies of the two great contending parties during these eventful years. Occa- sionally extracts from the resolutions of their respective conventions are quoted, and it may be suggested that an appendix reprinting the party platforms in full from 1856 to 1886 would be a more valuable document than that giving the names of the members of the state com- mittees of those parties which forms Appendix 2. The author has made use of the best sources, Senator Rollins's letter-books and corre- spondence, the ofificial records of the Republican state committee for the years 1858, 1859, i860, from which interesting extracts are made (see " Votes ", " laying assessments for campaign expenses upon Con- gressmen and state judges", pp. 80-87), newspaper files and legislative documents. His style is clear and graceful, and skill is shown in the selection and arrangement of salient facts, as well as due sense of proportion. It is the only book which has thus far appeared which gives a clear, orderly and accurate narrative of the political life of New Hampshire during this important epoch, and by his painstaking labor Mr. Lyford has made a distinct contribution to the history of the state. J.MES F. Colby. The American Xatiou: A History. Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart. Volume XX. Tlie Appeal to Arms. By James Ken- dall HoSMER, LL.D. (New York and London: Harper and Brothers. 1907. Pp. xvi, 354.) The American Nation: A History. Edited by Albert Bushnell Hart. Volume XXI. Outcome of the Civil War. By James Kendall Hosmer, LL.D. (New York and London: Harper and Brothers. Pp. xiv, 352.) These books might bear more felicitous titles. "Appeal to Arms" suggests the mere opening of the war, and " Outcome " the end or the results. " The Civil War, Volume L" and " The Civil War, Volume n." would tell exactly what the works contain. Each volume has an introduction Iiy the editor and a preface by the author. The Appeal to