By Professor Willis M. West. With thirty-nine Maps and numerous Illustrations. 12mo, half leather, 673 pages. Price, $1.50.
THIS volume, beginning where the author’s Ancient World ends, shows the development of the various forces which the ancient world had brought together and which had been partially welded in the empire of Charlemagne. In time it covers eleven centuries; but as much space is given to the last hundred years as to the preceding thousand.
Beginning with the outbreak of the momentous French Revolution, the book is remarkably full; for the author believes it wise to treat with comparative briefness the ephemeral phases of the Middle Ages in order to gain adequate space for a full treatment of the marvellous nineteenth century, and so for an intelligent introduction to the twentieth.
Moreover, the book is noteworthy in the large share of attention given to the most recent history. To stop the history of Europe at 1871 is to leave the pupil in the rear of the world of to-day much farther than is ordinarily represented by a human lifetime. Since that date a new Germany, a new Italy, a new and stable French Republic have been created, through the principles of democracy and nationality. The growth of these principles, their struggle with the divine right monarchies, and final victory, are described in vivid language. To put the student in touch with the recent movements in politics and in society is the business of the high school course in history.
The present revision has been brought down to September, 1907.
The book contains thirty-nine maps, mostly colored, and seventy-eight illustrations. There are copious references for further reading, topics for special reports, and review exercises. The footnotes supply a running comment on the text—short quotations from eminent authorities or interesting facts called up by the narrative. There is also a useful classified bibliography.
History of England
By Professor Charles M. Andrews, of Johns Hopkins University. With seventeen Maps, chronological and genealogical Tables, and numerous Illustrations. 12mo, half leather, 608 pages. Price, $1.50.
AN important feature of this history is the definite method of presentation. At the beginning of each period the author briefly outlines the character and the tendencies of the time. He then elaborates this outline, and before leaving the subject summarizes it in a few brief sentences.
The book teaches that the achievements of the English people have been solid and enduring, not dramatic and sensational, and concern the more peaceful aspects of human existence—government, legislation, agriculture, industry, commerce, and finance—quite as much as the stirring scenes of land battles and sea fights. To quote the author: “History to-day has got rid of much of the stage thunder that passed current in the older narratives. It points to the industry that underlies wealth, and to the wealth that makes military success possible. It lays stress upon the national or social conditions that render the great statute or legislative act necessary, and upon the pressure of food or population and the spurring of religious conviction that urge men to brave the sea and undertake colonization. It calls attention to the deep significance of peasants’ rebellions, religious revivals, and industrial revolutions in preparing the way for the rise of democracy and the transformation of the social life of a nation.”