ory told through thirty-one biographies, beginning with Patrick Henry at the start of the Revolutionary War and ending with Andrew Carnegie at the close of the nineteenth century. The biographies are so chosen as to acquaint the reader with the chief personages and events in our national life, fixing them in his or her mind by many striking and vivid pictures of each. The heroes are treated in proportion to the reach of their influence, and include numerous inventors in addition to political and military figures.