Morison's history of the founding of Harvard College is certainly exhaustive, tracing the influence of various Continental and British universities on the founders of the College and on the ultimate structure of the College itself. Morison confines himself entirely to this exhaustive history of academia and the founding of the College; his history never makes it out of the seventeenth century, which is ultimately a bit frustrating, especially when one considers that the other books in his planned series were never completed. Morison assumes a breathtakingly erudite reader, blithely leaving Latin and Greek quotations untranslated throughout the book and in particular assuming a high level of knowledge of colonial New England and the English Civil War. But it's an interesting, if ponderous read, and well worth it for anyone with a connection to or interest in Harvard as it is today. ( )