1570 History of American Presidential Elections 1789-1968 Volume II Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Editor (read 24 May 1980) This volume, which is the only volume of this four-volume work I've read, covers the elections from 1848 through 1896. Since National Conventions have been of extreme interest to me since I discovered there was such a thing when the Republican Convention of 1940 was on the radio and I spent the rest of my youth trying to get out of farm work so I could listen to the conventions on the radio, I read this volume (1874 pages) word-for-word. It is uneven, since each election's account is by a different author, and each election account is followed by platforms, speeches, and editorials concerning that election. But in general each account was absorbing reading, and I slogged through platforms and speeches because they too had some interest. I would think this one of the best books I've read this year. It is true the subject matter is very familiar, but it has been quite a while since I've read in the field and so much was like a visit with old friends. Among the speeches reported was my old friend, Bryan's Cross of Gold speech, and I was thrilled to re-read those so familiar lines. ( )