BOOK NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The
British
Empire,
1815-1939.
By Paul Knaplund.New York: Harper Brothers, 1941. Pp. 789. Appendix.
The University of Texas.
Mr. Knaplund has attempted to cover a vast field of material
within the covers of a single volume; therefore, one might excuse
some of the deficiencies of the volume to the nature of the
attempt. His regrettable word usage in several instances,
however, cannot be regarded as coming under this amnesty. His
wording of the Declaratory Act of 1766 (p. 4) is misleading con-
cerning the scope and general character of the act. He leaves
the student new to British history with the idea that this act
was an imperial surrender of the right of taxation over the
colonies in general. Students of American history will ques-
tion his implication that the collapse of the Confederate Gov-
ernment was due in so great an extent to a weak central gov-
ernment (p. 230).
Professor Knaplund has produced a book which brings togeth-
er a wealth of information on the last century of the British
empire. But the form of the book detracts to a certain extent
from the usefulness of the work for the average student; the
period treatment destroys its over-all continuity of the work.
An excellent bibliography and adequate index are contained in
the volume.
Van Mitchell Smith, Jr.
A
Memoir
of
an
American
Family.
The
Harrisons
of
Skimino
and
particularly
of
Jesse
Burton
and
Burton
Norvell
Harrison,
has been presented to the Association. This volume is edited
by Fairfax Harrison from material collected by Francis Burton
Harrison and privately printed for them in 1910.
The University of Texas.
Coral H. Tullis.
The University of Texas.
The Buffalo Historical Society of Buffalo, New York, has pub-
lished Volume II of The
Holland
Land
Company's
Papers.
The
reports of Joseph Ellicott as chief of survey 1799-1800 and
as agent 1800-1821 of the Holland Land Company's purchase
in western New York and of his successors in office to 1835
are included. The book is edited by Robert Warham Bingham,
Director of the Buffalo Historical Society.
Coral H. Tullis.
The University of Texas.
The Association has received from the Illinois State His-
torical Society Papers
in
Illinois
History
and
Transactions
for
the
Year
19
40.
A lengthy article entitled The
Great
Chicago
Fire,
October
8-10,
1871,
is a most interesting contribution
in the volume.
Coral H. Tullis.
The University of Texas.
The Massachusetts Historical Society published in 1941
Voyages
of
the
"Columbia"
to
the
Northwest
Coast,
1787-1790
and
1790-1793.
The logs of the voyages by petty officers with
introduction and notes by the editor, Frederick W. Harvey,
make up the book. It is both valuable and interesting.
Coral H. Tullis.
The University of Texas.
The Association received notice some time back of the publi-
cation of The
Denison
Guide,
a 29-page pamphlet, by the Works
Progress Administration under the sponsorship of the Denison,
Texas, Chamber of Commerce. The pamphlet was prepared by
the Federal Writers Project and traces, as the notice says,
"concisely but adequately, the development of the North Central
Texas city (population 13,850) situated four miles southeast
of the site of the proposed $54,000,000 hydro-electric flood
control dam on the Red River, for which authorization was
voted by Congress in 1938." The notice also describes Denison
as a "rugged Texas town" and pursues this theme throughout.
The Works Progress Administration has helped the writing
of other guides for Texas cities under local sponsorship.
R. L. Biesele.
Several times in its past issues the Quarterly
has acknowl-
edged the receipt of The
Historian,
the semi-annual publication
of Phi Alpha Theta, the national honorary fraternity for stu-
dents specializing in the study of history. This time the
Quarterly
announces the receipt of the autumn, 1941, number.
There are eight contributed articles by members in this, the
first number of the fourth volume. The quality of earlier
articles is maintained throughout, and The
Historian
thus
serves not only a useful purpose but also as a valuable in-
centive to the production of sound studies.
The University of Texas.
R. L. Biesele.
How to cite:
"Book Notes and Acknowledgments", Volume 45, Number 4, Southwestern Historical Quarterly Online, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/publications/journals/shq/online/v045/n4/group_DIVL6997.html
[Accessed Mon Nov 23 12:12:20 CST 2009]
