Title: A Manual of English Prose Literature Biographical and Critical Designed Mainly to Show Characteristics of Style Author: William Minto Published: Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons, 1881. Pages-548. Preamble This book was easy to read and well organized.  It has provided me with a better understanding of English Literature and its composition.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in either topic. About the Author The International Association for Scottish Philosophy states that William Minto was born October 10, 1845 at Nether Auchintoul, near Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and died March 1, 1893 in Aberdeen, Scotland.  His father, James Minto, was a farmer and his mother was Barbara Copland.  At the University of Aberdeen he took honors in the departments of classics, mathematics, and philosophy, graduating with a MA in 1865.  He served as an assistant, from 1867 to 1873, to Alexander Bain the professor of Logic at the University of Aberdeen.  In 1872 he published the first edition of this book.   From 1873 to 1880 he lived in London and contributed numerous literary and political articles to The Examiner, Daily News, and the Encyclopedia Britannica.  When Bain retired in 1880, Minto took his place as Regius Chair…