Edwin Emerson (1869–1959)

688. A History of the Nineteenth Century Year by Year (Volume One), by Edwin Emerson, Jr. (read 28 Jan 1962)
689. A History of the Nineteenth Century Year by Year (Volume Two), by Edwin Emerson, Jr. (read 4 Feb 1962)
690. A History of the Nineteenth Century Year by Year (Volume Three), by Edwin Emerson, Jr. (read 18 Feb 1962)
I thoroughly enjoyed these volumes, which were written right after the close of the 19th century. They are not outstandingly written but to a person wanting an even-handed review of the 19th century as it appeared right after it closed, these volumes are satisfying and enjoyable.… (more)

This is the middle volume in a middlebrow account of the 1800s, written for the 1900s, and foreshadowing those glossy Time-Life productions we all know so well a century later. Edwin Emerson Jr. is an amateur historian whose qualifications consist of having paid up his dues to two historical associations and a museum. He writes conventional history for his time, in which (for example) the phrase "history of Africa" is understood to mean "history of white men in Africa." This is histoire événementielle on steroids, as incurious and certain as bad journalism. For a trained historian it's a guilty pleasure, something like pulp fiction to a literature professor. As I'm also reading a 19th-century diary, the book might even be useful in reminding me of some of the fleeting "big events" of the period.… (more)