This is a history of Switzerland written by reformer Heinrich Zschokke, who became Swiss later in his life. From the preface:  "WHILE studying the history of Switzerland on Swiss soil, I was charmed by the simple beauty, the conciseness and impartiality of Zschokke’s popular work, which is used as a textbook in many, if not in all, of the Confederate Cantons; and, with the assent of pastor Emil Zschokke of Aarau, the worthy continuer of his late celebrated father’s labors, I made the following translation from the ninth enlarged edition. Having myself felt a want of information on the subject, I now present this translation to my fellow-citizens of these United States, in the hope that a more extended acquaintance with the history of our sister republic may teach us to shun the perils through which the Swiss people have passed at the cost of so much suffering, and may aid us to appreciate our own more favorable position as a nation."