Excerpt from A Short History of England's Literature To select those few authors with due regard to what is good in itself and what is historically of value, to choose from the hundreds whose writings have made for literary excellence, is under no circumstances an easy task. It is especially difficult and especially delightful for one who can echo most honestly the words of the French critic, En littérature j'aime tout. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A Short History of England's and America's Literature Second: That it is more important to understand the times during which an author wrote, and the reasons for his writing as he did, than to be familiar with a mere catalogue of names, titles, and dates. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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Excerpt from A Short History of England Thirdly, I have clung pretty closely to the thread of English history, only introducing mention of other countries when their connection with England was especially close. Since England's story is so long and so eventful, I have felt that it had better here be told as simply, clearly, and continuously as possible, for its own sake, rather than to complicate it by including many facts drawn from the history of other countries. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A Short History of Modern English Literature The great pressure upon space has been relieved by dividing the history of English literature into two por tions. If this series continues to receive the support of the public, it is hoped that a volume on the archaic section may bring the story down from the earliest times to Robert of Brunne and Laurence Minot. In my first three chapters I have further lightened my labour by leaving out of consideration what was written in this country in Latin or French, for, although this may be material in dealing with thought in England, it can have but a small connection with the history of expression in the English language. I make no apology for the prominence given throughout to the art of poetry, for it is in verse that style can most definitely and to greatest advantage be studied, especially in a literature like ours, where prose has mainly been written without any other aim than the naive transference of ideas or statement of facts, like the prose of M. Jourdain, while our national poetry, which is one of our main national glories, has been a consecutive chain of consciously elaborated masterpieces. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from Readings in English History Drawn From the Original Sources: Intended to Illustrate a Short History of England All intelligent teachers of history realize the desira bility of having their students do more reading of history than is contained in the text-book, and most of them agree that this is best found in records and writings contemporary with the events being studied. But the practical problem of providing such readings for classes is by no means easy to solve. Those who have tried to procure the necessary number of copies of books, to dis cover English translations, to find applicable passages, and to make practicable requirements best know the difii culties of the task. I hope that this book of readings from the original sources of English history will help to overcome these obstacles. It is intended to be used as a close companion to my Short History of England the matter contained in it is arranged in the same order as the subjects taken up in that text-book, and is selected with a view to the further explanation and illustration of the principal points there discussed. It can, however, obviously be used in connection with other text-books, and in any case, where time is insufficient to make use of all the illustrative extracts, a selection from them can be made by the teacher. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A Short History of England, Vol. 1 of 2 In this brief history of England I have endeavored to present within the compass of about four hundred pages the main features of England's story from the earliest times to the present day. It retains, on a smaller scale, the essential characteristics of my larger work, with many omissions of details and some additions, chiefly of a geographical and biographical character. The aim of the book is to be instructive as well as interesting. In it I have tried to tell a clear and simple story, avoiding technical expressions, and yet passing over no important features of the history that are necessary for the proper understanding of the subject. The narrative is made as continuous as possible, that the reader may follow in unbroken sequence the thread of the story. It is accompanied with a large number of newly selected illustrations, and an ample supply of maps and chronological tables. The elaborate bibliographies contained in the larger work have been omitted, and only a brief but selective list of the best books of moderate length has been retained. The history has been brought down to date in matters of scholarship as well as chronology, and contains many opinions and statements not to be found in the larger work. The book traces in rapid survey the development of the people and institutions of England from Anglo-Saxon times to the close of the year 1911, and shows by what steps the primitive organization of a semi-tribal people has been transformed into the highly complicated political and social structure of the United Kingdom and the British Empire. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.