This Country of Ours: The Story of the United States

H. E. Marshall's lively and spectacular history of the United States from its tumultuous inception through to World War I is available anew in this comprehensive edition.

Using her wealth of experience as a historian of nations, H. E. Marshall set out in 1917 to chronicle North America's history from the colonial era onward. Rather than opt for a straightforward chronological exploration of the USA's evolution and growth as a nation, Marshall instead opted to tell stories peculiar to each of the regions, as well as events with important ramifications for the entire country.

The book is therefore divided into seven principal parts, each of which contains numerous chapters that relate a particular episode of American history. Marshall begins with the colonial period and the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, and thereafter details the arrival of the British, then the French and Spanish, to North American shores.

Gradually, the colonies of what was to become the state of Virginia were founded amid various swashbuckling adventures. The first migration of British populations are soon rivaled by the rise of New England, wherein the Pilgrim Fathers arrived to settle upon the new and fertile lands.

The Virginian and New England colonies formed the genesis of the country that was to eventually unite and revolt against British colonial administration. Yet between political upheavals, social and cultural changes are carefully chronicled by Marshall - we hear for example of the founding of Harvard University, the Salem Witch Trials, and the skirmishes between pirates and the colonialists.

This trend continues throughout the 18th and 19th centuries: the founding of the United States, the writing of its Constitution, and the various conflicts on land and sea feature. Yet these are accompanied by narratives of American foreign policy, the expansion westwards, and the stories of groups as diverse as the Mormons and the gold rush prospectors.

By reading this book the reader gains an appreciation of the American character which formed this diverse and varied nation. Rather than merely comment on politics and wars, Marshall weaves stories that communicate a true flavor of the United States and its affinity for pioneering, innovation, risk-taking and optimism against all odds and obstacles.

Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall was a British writer and historian, who wrote a series of popular history books aimed at a younger audience. Originating from Bo’ness, Scotland, Marshall was born to a prosperous manufacturer of earthenware, and thus enjoyed an excellent standard of education in Laurel Bank boarding school in Melrose, a town on the Scottish borders.