PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. The above works are for sale by all booksellers, or they will be sent by HARPER & BROTHERS, to any address on receipt of price as quoted. If ordered sent by mail, 10 per cent. should be added to the Price to cover cost of postage. K PREFACE. THE object of this work is to supply-what undoubtedly does not exist at present-a clear, impartial, and at the same time, a concise narrative of European history during the last four centuries. No attempt has been made to go into the details of the domestic history of each state, a task which would require as many volumes as there are states. Especially the history of England (which has been admirably treated in Professor Brewer's recent edition of "The Student's Hume" in this series) has been omitted, except so far as it is directly connected with the history of the continental states. One of the great difficulties has been that of arrangement. The Author has endeavoured to avoid the baldness of a chronological summary, and to group the history of the different states round the central current of European affairs. This method has necessitated frequent repetitions, but it appeared the lesser evil of the two. At the same time a full chronological table has been inserted at the beginning of the work. The Author had prepared a number of genealogical tables to illustrate the family relationships which are of such importance for a clear understanding of European history. But they became so numerous and bulky as the work advanced, that it has seemed better to omit them, and to refer the reader to Mr. George's "Genealogical Tables" (Second Edition, Oxford, 1875). No single work has been taken as the basis of this book, and it would be impossible to refer to authorities without writing a bibliography of modern European history. The Author has spared no pains in consulting the best authors on each period, and has endeavoured to elicit the truth by a careful comparison of their statements. The amount of his success must be left to his readers to estimate. |