The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 1

Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 1, The

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Title: The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 1
Author: Various
Editor: Rossiter Johnson, Charles Horne And John Rudd
Release Date: July 24, 2005 [EBook #16352]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE GREAT EVENTS
BY
FAMOUS HISTORIANS
A COMPREHENSIVE AND READABLE ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY, EMPHASIZING THE MORE IMPORTANT EVENTS, AND PRESENTING THESE AS COMPLETE NARRATIVES IN THE MASTER-WORDS OF THE MOST EMINENT HISTORIANS
NON-SECTARIAN NON-PARTISAN NON-SECTIONAL
ON THE PLAN EVOLVED FROM A CONSENSUS OF OPINIONS GATHERED FROM THE MOST DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS OF AMERICA AND EUROPE, INCLUDING BRIEF INTRODUCTIONS BY SPECIALISTS TO CONNECT AND EXPLAIN THE CELEBRATED NARRATIVES, ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY, WITH THOROUGH INDICES, BIBLIOGRAPHIES, CHRONOLOGIES, AND COURSES OF READING
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ROSSITER JOHNSON, LL.D.
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph.D. JOHN RUDD, LL.D.
With a staff of specialists
_VOLUME 1_

The National Alumni
COPYRIGHT, 1905,
By THE NATIONAL ALUMNI

CONTENTS
VOLUME I

General Introduction
An Outline Narrative of the Great Events CHARLES F. HORNE
Dawn of Civilization (_B.C. 5867_) G.C.C. MASPERO
Compilation of the Earliest Code (_B.C. 2250_) HAMMURABI
Theseus Founds Athens (_B.C. 1235_) PLUTARCH
The Formation of the Castes in India (_B.C. 1200_) GUSTAVE LE BON W.W. HUNTER
Fall of Troy (_B.C. 1184_) GEORGE GROTE
Accession of Solomon Building of the Temple at Jerusalem (_B.C. 1017_) HENRY HART MILMAN
Rise and Fall of Assyria Destruction of Nineveh (_B.C. 789_) F. LENORMANT AND E. CHEVALLIER
The Foundation of Rome (_B.C. 753_) BARTHOLD GEORG NIEBUHR
_Prince Jimmu Founds Japan's Capital_ (_B.C. 660_) SIR EDWARD REED THE "NEHONGI"
The Foundation of Buddhism (_B.C. 623_) THOMAS W. RHYS-DAVIDS
Pythian Games at Delphi (_B.C. 585_) GEORGE GROTE
_Solon's Early Greek Legislation_ (_B.C. 594_) GEORGE GROTE
Conquests of Cyrus the Great (_B.C. 550_) GEORGE GROTE
_Rise of Confucius, the Chinese Sage_ (_B.C. 550_) R.K. DOUGLAS
Rome Established as a Republic Institution of Tribunes (_B.C. 510-494_) HENRY GEORGE LIDDELL
The Battle of Marathon (_B.C. 490_) SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD CREASY
Invasion of Greece by Persians under Xerxes _Defence of Thermopyl?_ (_B.C. 480_) HERODOTUS
Universal Chronology (_B.C. 5867-451_) JOHN RUDD

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME I

_Sphinx, with Great and Second Pyramids of Gizeh_ (_page 12_) Frontispiece From an original photograph.
_The Rosetta Stone, and Description_ Facsimile of original in the British Museum.
_The Sabine Women_--_now mothers_--suing for peace between the combatants (_their Roman husbands and their Sabine relatives_) Painting by Jacques L. David.

THE GREAT EVENTS
BY
FAMOUS HISTORIANS
* * * * *
General Introduction
THE GREAT EVENTS BY FAMOUS HISTORIANS is the answer to a problem which has long been agitating the learned world. How shall real history, the ablest and profoundest work of the greatest historians, be rescued from its present oblivion on the dusty shelves of scholars, and made welcome to the homes of the people?
THE NATIONAL ALUMNI, an association of college men, having given this question long and earnest discussion among themselves, sought finally the views of a carefully elaborated list of authorities throughout America and Europe. They consulted the foremost living historians and professors of history, successful writers in other fields, statesmen, university and college presidents, and prominent business men. From this widely gathered consensus of opinions, after much comparison and sifting of ideas, was evolved the following practical, and it would seem incontrovertible, series of plain facts. And these all pointed toward "THE GREAT EVENTS."
In the first place, the entire American public, from top to bottom of the social ladder, are at this moment anxious to read history. Its predominant importance among the varied forms of literature is fully recognized. To understand the past is to understand the future. The successful men in every line of life are those who look ahead, whose keen foresight enables them to probe into the future, not by magic, but by patiently acquired knowledge. To see clearly what the world has done, and why, is to see at least vaguely what the world will do, and when.
Moreover, no man can understand himself unless he understands others; and he cannot do that without some idea of the past, which has produced both him and them. To know his neighbors, he must know something of the country from which they came, the conditions under which they formerly lived. He cannot do his own simple duty by his own country if he does not know through what tribulations that country has passed. He cannot be a good citizen, he cannot even vote honestly, much less intelligently, unless he has read history. Fortunately the point needs little urging. It is almost an impertinence to refer to it. We are all anxious, more than anxious to learn--if only the path of study be made easy.
Can this be