John Bettenbender

The editor has collected work of praise for great moments -- feats of glory, struggles, adventures, tender love, and profound longings. Most are familiar, but not all the authors are. The bulk of the collection is American, devoted expressly to the idea of an American heritage. Some of the best is from the legatic British.

I. Heroes and Villains.
II. Yankee Doodle [broadly patriotic]
III. Iron Horse and Gunsmoke
IV. Blunderbuss and Cannon
V. Galleon and Cutlass
VI. Demons and Terror
VII. Field and show more Forest
IX. Hearth and Cradle
X. Courting and Kissing
XI. Heart and Mind
XII. Seasons and Celebrations
Concludes with "Biographical Notes" on the poets. Very brief, barely referencing even their most significant work. A few token Negroes (Cullen, Hughes), women (Cheaney, Child, Dickinson) and a large number of transcendentalists -- Emerson, Lazarus, Wilcox, Whitman.

Includes Emerson's show less

Gioldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, Sheridan's The Rivals and School for Scandal -- the three undisputed masterpieces of 18th century English comedy. I have seen Stoops and Rivals and found them very funny. Oddly, I';ve never seen School, which is probably the best known.