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The Outline of History. Being a Plain His- 
tory of Life and Mankind. By H. G. 
Wells. New York City: The Macmillan 
Company. 
These two volumes of more than a thou- 
sand pages are evidently not written from 
the historical point of view but as a preface 
to the right understanding for the future. 
The outline is a preliminary argument for 
peace and prosperity. The publishers em- 
phasize in their announcement in bold black 
letters these last sentences which we have 
put in italics. 
“The need for a common knowledge of the 
general facts of human history throughout the 
world has become very evident during the 
tragic happenings of the past few years. There 
can be no peace now, we realize, but a common 
peace in all the world ; no prosperity but a 
general prosperity. But there can be no com- 
mon peace and prosperity without common his- 
torical ideas.” 
When so much of the book evidently 
points to the future the reader can but won- 
der why the author does not propound more 
definite statements of what he expects man- 
kind to accomplish by this panoramic knowl- 
edge from the earliest geological ages. From 
the naturalist’s point of view the outline im- 
presses one as top-heavy at the beginning. 
Mr. Wells draws a great amount of material 
from geology up to the time of the arrival of 
man on earth and then bids good-by to all 
scientific endeavors. 
Some of us, in fact, a great many of our 
readers, believe that for a clear understand- 
ing of the past, in view of peace and pros- 
perity for the future, we do not need to 
give so careful consideration to the horrible 
wars and the work of the guillotine of the 
past, to realize that this world is not so 
much a place for man to devil in as to delve 
in. The chief work of mankind in order to 
achieve the best peace and prosperity is to 
understand nature and how best to draw 
upon her bountiful sources. A little general 
stress is laid upon cultural education but 
practically none upon science. Our modern 
scientific workers and inventors are not 
even mentioned. It is astonishing that so 
much attention is given in the first part of 
the first volume to dinosaurs and allied 
forms of life in great detail, indeed, enter- 
ing into extended discussions as to the spin- 
nerets of the spider and the tracheal tubes 
of insects, telling of the early forms of 
ferns, etc., etc., and then with the advent of 
man the whole of nature is discarded. 
So far as the outline deals with nature it 
gives one the impression that what she did 
was to prepare a fighting ground for the 
subsequent nations. We have, for example, 
a great amount of space devoted to the wars 
of England, France and Germany, and one 
looks in vain for even the slightest reference 
to the accomplishments of any one of these 
great nations in making the world a com- 
fortable place for residence. 
Since the days of the cave man some 
things have evidently happened for the fu- 
ture peace and prosperity of mankind, be- 
sides guillotines, gunpowder and gunboats, 
to make our old earth so long geologically 
developing a worth while place for mankind. 
It is a curious fact that Volume I has 
many extended references to elephants and 
mastodons but in Volume II, when we are 
supposed to be ready to fit up this earth, 
there is no reference to Benjamin Franklin, 
Thomas Edison or Luther Burbank, nor any 
mention of hosts of others who have done 
the real work of developing the earth as an 
abode of present and future peace and pros- 
perity. It also is curious to note the ex- 
tended references to China and the com- 
paratively limited number to the United 
States. There is less than a sentence of 
reference, in the entire thousand pages, to 
the automobile and but little reference to 
modern agriculture. To natural history as 
a whole there is only one brief mention in 
the beginning of the book to a natural his- 
tory museum supposedly in the days of the 
dinosaurs. There are a few slight references 
to astronomy but without the personality 
element entering in. There is only one ref- 
erence to the heavens and that is to 
astrology. 
Notwithstanding this ignoring of nature 
after man arrived we can but say a good 
word for the author for so fully portraying 
the earliest geological and biological phases 
of the earth. In later chapters in telling of 
wars and religions and struggles of man- 
kind he has furnished some interesting read- 
ing, so interesting that the book is regarded 
as one of the best sellers and is included 
among the books of the hour. Mr. Wells is 
a skilled writer and though sometimes he 
becomes independent of facts he is ex- 
cusable, as he has succeeded in setting 
people to reading, thinking and talking. He 
has produced an outline of history that 
tends to draw mankind into one common 
brotherhood. He shows that after all we 
are not merely a community formed of 
United States, England, France, Germany, 
Japan, Russia, etc., but we are one great 
human family. When he recommends us 
to lay aside the gun and gunboat he is com- 
mendable. He has accomplished much in 
urging us to stop studying new ways by 
which to kill men but he should have gone 
further and have at least pointed out the 
