46 EDUCATIONAL BOOKS. 



"I have, I hope " the author says, "shown that it is perfectly easy to 

 teach children, from the very first, to distinguish true history alike from 

 legend and from wilful invention, and also to understand the nature of 

 historical authorities and to weii^h one statement against another. I have 

 throughout striven to connect the history of England with the general 

 history of civilized Europe, and I have especially tried to make the 

 hook serve as an incentive to a more accurate study of historical 

 geography." In the present edition the whole has been carefully revised, 

 and such improvements as suggested themselves have been introduced. 

 * * The book indeed is full of instruction and interest to students of all 

 ages, and he must be a well-informed man indeed who will not rise from 

 its perusal -with clearer and more accurate ideas of a too much neglected 

 portion of English History." — Spectator. 



Historical Course for Schools. — Edited by Edward 

 A. Freeman, D.C.L., late Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. 

 The object of the present series is to put forth clear and correct views 

 of history in simple language, and in the smallest space and cheapest 

 form in which it could be done. It is meant in the first place for 

 Schools ; but it is often found that a book for schools proves useful 

 for other readers as well, and it is hoped that this may be the case 

 with the little books the first instalment of which is now given to 

 the world. The General Sketch will be followed by a series ot 

 special histories of particular countries, which will take for granted 

 the main principles laid down in the General Sketch. In every case 

 the results of the latest historical research will be given in as simple 

 a form as may be, and the several numbers of the series will all be 

 so far under the supervision of the Editor as to secure general ac- 

 curacy of statement and a general harmony of plan and sentiment ; 

 but each book will be the original work of its author, who will 

 be responsible for his own treatment of smaller details. 

 The first volume is meant to be introductory to the whole course. It 

 is intended to give, as its name implies, a general sketch of the history of 

 the civilized world, that is, of Europe, and of the lands which have drawn 

 their civilization from Europe. Its object is to trace out the general rela- 

 tions of different periods and different countries to one another, without 

 going minutely into the affairs of any particular country. This is an 

 object of the first importance, for without clear notions of general history, 

 the history of particular countries can never be rightly understood. The 

 narrative extends from the earliest movements of the Aryan peoples, down 

 to the latest events both on the Eastern and Western Continents, The 

 book consists of seventeen moderately sized chapters, each chapter bein^ 

 divided into a number of short numbered paragraphs, each with a title 

 prefixed clearly indicative of the subject of the paragraph. 



I. GENERAL SKETCH OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. By 

 Edward A. Freeman, D.C.L. Third Edition. i8mo. cloth. 

 IS. 6d. 

 " It supplies the great want of a good foundation for historical teach- 

 ing. The scheme is an excellent one, and this instalment has been 



