Book Reviews and Notices : Government of the American People. BY JEREMIAH S. YOUNG, JOHN H. MANNING, AND JOSEPH I. ARNOLD. (Boston and New York: D. C. Heath and Company. Revised Edition, 1947. Pp. xvi, 843. $4.75.)

• Author: Chester C. Maxey
• Published date: 01 September 1948
• Date: 01 September 1948
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591294800100326
• Subject Matter: Articles

331

aspects

of

the

westward

expansion

are

not

neglected.

The

transplanting

of

the

cultural

structures

from

&dquo;back

East,&dquo;

their

nurturing

and

the

resultant

new

patterns

that

emerge

are

adequately

treated.

Literature,

music,

and

the

arts

are

developed

into

something

far

more

satisfactory

than

the

catalogues

of

names

and

lists

of

titles

which

have

too

frequently

been

made

to

serve

as

cultural

history.

Education,

religion,

and

manners

are

not

treated

quite

so

satisfactorily.

This

complaint,

however,

is

based

primarily

on

the

lack

of

quantity

rather

than

quality.

The

treatment

of

the

Indian

as

an

individual

with

a

culture

of

his

own

and

the

brief

descriptions

of

the

impact

of

that

culture

with

the

white

man’s

are

illuminating,

and

to

those

living

in

sections

of

the

country

where

the

Indians

still

constitute

a

significant

part

of

the

population,

gratifying.

The

last

chapter

in

the

book,

&dquo;The

Historian

Discovers

the

West,&dquo;

with

its

discussion

of

Frederick

Jackson

Turner

and

the

controversy

that

has

arisen

over

his

theories,

is

somewhat

surprising

in

a

treatise

designed

pri-

marily

for

use

as

a

text.

It

is

doubtful

if

any

but

the

most

advanced

stu-

dents,

those

in

fact

with

previous

knowledge

of

Turner’s

ideas,

will

find

this

chapter

rewarding.

The

author’s

own

summation

of

the

characteristics

and

importance

of

the

frontier

will

probably

prove

more

useful

to

both

stu-

dents

and

lay

readers.

Possibly

this

book

emphasizes

the

early

frontier,

that

east

of

the

Missis-

sippi,

to

the

consequent

relative

neglect

of

the

plain

and

mountain

regions;

it

would

seem,

too,

that

the

influence

of

land

and

land

policy

is

insufficiently

accented.

However,

in

a

work

treating

a

subject

as

broad

in

scope

as

the

westward

movement

in

America,

proportion

is

always

subject

to

censure,

each

critic

being

prone

to

believe

that

his

particular

interest

or

region

has

been

given

less

than

justice.

Such

being

the

case

the

author

is,

perhaps,

a

better

judge

than

his

critic.

The

maps

and

charts

are

useful;

the

reading

lists

at

the

end

of

each

chapter

have

the

practical

virtues

of

being

reasonably

brief

and

of

contain-

ing

items

that

are

for

the

most

part

easily

available.

CHARLES

JUDAH.

University

of

New

Mexico.

Government

of

the

American

People.

BY

JEREMIAH

S.

YOUNG,

JOHN

H.

MANNING,

AND

JOSEPH

I.

ARNOLD.

(Boston

and

New

York: D.

C.

Heath

and

Company.

Revised

Edition,

1947.

Pp.

xvi,

843.

$4.75.)

This

is

the

revised

edition of

a

standard

textbook

on

American

govern-

ment.

It

announces

itself

as

an

integrated

text.

The

integration

is

accom-

polished

by

grouping

together

chapters

dealing

with

legislation,

administra-

tion,

and

adjudication

respectively,

and

by

a

similarly

integrated

treatment

of

the

principal

problems

of

American

government.

There

has

been

a

marked

tendency

among

teachers

of

American

government

in

late

years

to