This volume contains five accounts of voyagers and explorers, ranging from Columbus to Lewis and Clark; stories of five colonies of markes dissimilarity—Virginia, Quebec, Plymouth, New York, and Philadelphia; brief lives of four pioneers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; and fifteen short stories of war times. In treating of our wars, it seemed wisest not to attempt any formal explanation of causes and results, but rather to picture a number of separate and interesting achievements, choosing as far as possible actions that have distinct heroes. The chapters are arranged in chronological order, with a thread of continuity running through them. The aim of the book is to introduce in informal and friendly fashion some of the makers of American history, and to provide a simple, broad foundation for future study of history and biography.

From the Preface