Eduet 609, 19, 913 HARVARD UNIVERSITY DEPT. OF EDUCATION LIBRARY GIFT OF THE PUBLISHER TRANSFERRED TO HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY 1930 WEBSTER'S HISTORIES Webster's Ancient History From prehistoric times to the Age of Charlemagne Webster's Early European History From prehistoric times to the seventeenth century Part I - Ancient Times The Ancient History section of the above book Part II — Medieval and Early Modern Times Part III- Modern Times From the Age of Louis XIV to the present Webster's Readings in Ancient History Webster's Readings in Medieval and Modern History D. C. HEATH & CO., Publishers COPYRIGHT, 1919 By D. C. HEATH & Co. IC 9 PREFACE THIS entire work has been written since the outbreak of the World War, and its probable consequences have been kept constantly in mind. If it be true, as Bishop Stubbs once said, that "nothing in the past is dead to the man who would learn how the present comes to be what it is," then surely the prime business of the author of a text-book dealing with European history is to make plain the remoter causes, as well as the immediate antecedents, of a struggle epochal in the life of humanity. How far I have succeeded in doing so must be left to the reader's judgment. The "Suggestions for Further Study" contain a classified and annotated bibliography of those historical works which appear to be reasonably well adapted to the needs of pupils in secondary schools. References to the appropriate chapters of my Readings in Medieval and Modern History are also inserted in footnotes. This volume consists of extracts from the sources, chiefly of a biographical or narrative character. As stated in the preface, "Each chapter deals with a single epoch or personality and presents the work of a single author. The passages quoted are long enough to make a definite impression on the reader, thus avoiding the scrappy effect necessarily produced by a set of short, unrelated extracts. Since many of the selections are good literature as well as good history, I hope that students will be tempted to turn to the original sources from which excerpts have been taken, and to read in them at length for their own enjoyment." The pedagogical apparatus supplied includes a table of events and dates and an index and pronouncing vocabulary. The studies following each chapter are based directly on the text. Most of them take the form of suggestive questions, which do not test the memory only, but stir the sluggish mind, provoke debate, and lead to constructive thinking. There are also numerous exercises requiring the preparation of outline maps. It remains to acknowledge with hearty thanks the assistance received from teachers who have read and criticized parts of the manuscript. I may mention the following: Professor James M. Leake of Bryn Mawr College; Professor J. C. Hildt of Smith College; |