dation as a valuable authority on the
political history of the American civil war, and ought always, as such,
to be consulted.

THE HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA:--Comprising a full and
impartial account of the Origin and Progress of the Rebellion, of the
various Naval and Military Engagements, of the Heroic Deeds performed by
Armies and Individuals, and of Touching scenes in the Field, the Camp,
the Hospital, and the Cabin. By John S.C. Abbott. Illustrated. 2 vols.
pp. 507, 629. Norwich. Conn: The Henry Bill Publishing Company.

The author of the _Life of Napoleon Bonaparte_ was never too
particular in regard to his facts, but those which he made use of he
could array with such skill as to completely captivate the judgment of
the unwary. In his History of the Civil War, all the enthusiasm of the
writer, his easy flow of rhetoric, his vast fund of anecdote, and his
characteristic inability to discriminate between truth and falsity,
assert themselves. The chief importance of the work consists in its
treatment of events, as army-correspondents saw them, and, hence, it
comprises many minor features, usually omitted by more sober historians.
As a political history, it is almost worthless; as a military history,
it is even worse. Still, it possesses a marked value, for the reason
already stated, and is attractive by reason of its numerous
illustrations, all engraved on steel from original designs,--comprising
portraits, battle-scenes, diagrams and maps. The first volume was
printed in 1863; the second in 1865.

A HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA:--By The Comte de Paris.
Translated with the approval of the author. Edited by Henry Coppee,
LL.D. 3 volumes. 8vo, pp. 640, 820, 954. Philadelphia: Porter and
Coates.

The first volume of this work was published in 1875, the second in 1876,
and the third in 1883. A fourth volume is now in course of preparation,
and will conclude the series.

The prime qualifications of a historian, dispassionateness and
thoroughness, are everywhere manifest in the splendid work of the Count
of Paris. His is the first attempt to produce a full and complete
history of the civil war, based upon official records both of the North
and of the South. The whole narrative exhibits unsparing and successful
research, calm judgment, temperance alike in praise and censure, and an
earnest endeavor to deal justly and fairly with both sides of the great
conflict and the act