"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._ _THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA._ A Study of the American Commonwealth, its Natural Resources, People, Industries, Manufactures, Commerce, and its Work in Literature, Science, Education, and Self-Government. Edited by NATHANIEL S. SHALER, S. D., Professor of Geology in Harvard University. In two volumes, royal 8vo. With Maps, and 150 full-page Illustrations. Cloth, $10.00.