THE authors of this history believe that another text on the subject is justified at this time only by the fact that some of the big ideals for which this country stands should receive greater emphasis than has been usual. These are now more clearly defined than formerly, making it desirable that a text designed as this is for the fifth and sixth grades shall be a helpful adjunct in teaching them. It should include, too, a treatment of the lives and achievements of some of the men and women who have influenced the great movements in our national life during recent years.

The development of the ideals of liberty and the giving of unselfish service for the good of mankind have been stressed throughout the book. In the preparation of the stories the fact that America has been not only a refuge for those who sought to escape persecution but a land of opportunity and of material and moral, as well as political, progress has been uppermost in the minds of the authors.

Five connecting chapters are included in the book for the purpose of preparing the pupils' minds for some of the important events of the different periods into which the history is divided. The aim is to establish a viewpoint and to give an interpretative basis for the subsequent narratives.

The biographical treatment, so appealing to children, is used because children in the fifth and sixth grades possess