author
Prescott Holmes
Best known for brisk, accessible histories for younger readers, this writer turned wars, presidents, exploration, and religion into lively late-19th-century nonfiction. The books feel direct and practical, with a clear aim: to make big subjects easier to grasp.
1 Audiobook
Young Peoples' History of the War with Spain
by Prescott Holmes
About the author
Prescott Holmes was a prolific American writer whose books appeared in the late 1890s and around 1900, many of them published by H. Altemus. Confirmed works include Lives of the Presidents (1898), The Battles of the War for the Union (1897), The Battles of the War for Independence (1897), The Story of Exploration and Adventure in Africa (1896), A Child's Life of Christ (1899), and Young Peoples' History of the War with Spain (1900).
His nonfiction focused on subjects that would appeal to general and younger readers: American presidents, the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, world exploration, and current events of his day. The titles suggest a talent for condensing large, complicated histories into readable narratives meant to inform and engage rather than overwhelm.
Very little biographical detail about Holmes himself is easy to confirm from reliable online sources, so the surviving record is clearest through his books. Taken together, they show a writer interested in history, biography, and popular education at a time when publishers were creating affordable, illustrated books for family and school reading.