Down the Rhine; Or, Young America in Germany

William Taylor Adams (1822 – 1897), pseudonym Oliver Optic, was a famous academic, author, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Adams in whole wrote over 100 books and most of them for a boy audience.

«Down the Rhine» is considered to be the sixth and last volume of the first serious «Young America Abroad» and is connected to the conclusion of the history of the Academy Squadron on its first voyage to Europe, with excursion of the students and their friends into Germany and down its beatiful river. The author doesn't make much sense in showing characters types, instead of it author is given bright and detailed geographical descriptions of the country and its history that may be interesting for young readers.