70 : The Atlantic 



heart and highway of human intercourse. The Atlantic Ocean has 

 been not only the background but also the actual stage on which the 

 most important events in history have been worked out including 

 the migration of peoples and cultures, the development of new sys- 

 tems of communication, the evolution of sciences and the achieve- 

 ment of political and religious liberty. 



The Atlantic has a meaning that is important to all the peoples 

 about its shores. In trying to make this plain we have made some 

 rather large and sweeping statements. It is not enough to say that 

 certain things happened. We shall want also to see why and how 

 they happened. The next two parts of this book deal with the his- 

 tory of the Atlantic, the growth of the Atlantic peoples, the events 

 that have taken place on and across the Atlantic and about its shores. 

 They are events in which the ocean has not been a passive element 

 in the story but has contributed to the development and outcome of 

 the plot. 



Today there is much honest confusion and still more cynical deval- 

 uation of history and historical accomplishments. Now that mon- 

 archy and inherited responsibility for the direction of people at all 

 levels have all but disappeared from the earth, the unbridled scramble 

 for control of the masses is on. Avid demagogues find it convenient, 

 even necessary, to destroy or belittle the accomplishments of all for- 

 mer rulers and leaders. In this they are aided and abetted by discon- 

 tented and envious peoples who through lack of experience or ability 

 find it difficult to measure up to the standards of beauty, accomplish- 

 ment, coherence, control and liberty that men have set for them- 

 selves over the centuries. Yet historic events have a way of repeating 

 themselves — if not in identical shapes at least in similar patterns, and 

 the problems of the future are often only the unsolved problems of 

 the past in a new disguise. 



Many believe, or profess to believe, that the purpose of history is 

 only to celebrate the past — whereas in reality it is to guard the fu- 

 ture. This is why we invite the reader's careful attention to the two 

 following parts on the history of the Atlantic and why we have 

 added a final part restating the crucial value of the Atlantic to us for 

 today and tomorrow. 



