The young man beginning to read history now, as Green began Gibbon at sixteen, may consider whether he will devote himself to the task of writing the history of the American people. Even if his ambitions are not so high, he may be sure that as a citizen of the Republic he can never know too much about the history of his nation and of the men who helped to make it. As aids to historical reading, it is well to have some books of bare facts, a short history of America, a dictionary of dates, and a compact general encyclopedia of events, such as Ploetz’s “Epitome.” But these are for reference and not for entertainment. As a rule, text books of history prepared for schools, however excellent they may be for the purposes of study, are not entertaining to read. They have not space for all the elaborate plots, political intrigues, biographical interludes, accounts of popular movements of thought, which appeal to the imagination of the leisurely reader. Our school teachers will take care that we learn the salient facts which everyone must know. By ourselves we shall dip into Parkman’s “Montcalm and Wolfe” or Prescott’s “Conquest of Mexico” or Carlyle’s “French Revolution.” In reading these masterpieces for pleasure, we shall be supplementing our work in school and making our daily lessons easier. LIST OF WORKS OF HISTORY _Supplementary to Chapter VII_ The following list of titles is not intended to outline an adequate reference library for the student of history. It includes principally books that have taken their place in literature by virtue of their readability and their imaginative power, and may therefore be supposed to interest the general reader. A few books are included which deal with current historical problems and politics. AMERICAN HISTORY HENRY ADAMS. _History of the United States._ Covers exhaustively the period immediately following the Revolution. GEORGE BANCROFT (1800-91). _History of the United States from the Discovery of the Continent to 1789._ JAMES BRYCE. _The American Commonwealth._ The recognized authority on American political institutions. EDWARD CHANNING. _Students’ History of the United States._ Said to be the best of the one-volume histories of this country. JOHN FISKE (1842-1901). _Discovery of America, with Some Account of Ancient America and the Spanish Conquest._ _New France and New England._ _Old Virginia and Her Neighbors._ _The Beginnings of New England._ _The Puritan Theocracy in its Relations to Civil and Religious Liberty._ _Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America._ _American Revolution._ _Critical Period of American History (1783-89)._ _War of Independence._ _Mississippi Valley in the Civil War._ _Civil Government in the United States._ JOHN BROWN GORDON. _Reminiscences of the Civil War._ ALBERT BUSHNELL HART (and collaborators). _American History Told by Contemporaries._