Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/10

 iv General History of Europe history, for the war clearly showed how close has become the relationship between all peoples of the earth and how delicate and pressing is the problem of international adjustment. It is obvious that in order to make room for all this new and essential material it has been impossible to include all the events which have 'usually been found in a general history. The task of selection is a difficult one. It is fair to ask the reader who is disturbed by the omission of some familiar name or topic to con- sider what portion of the present narrative he would discard in favor of the incident he has in mind. In the matter of perspective it will be noted that less than half of the book is devoted to the whole history of the Western world down to the sixteenth century. Nearly a quarter of the volume is assigned to the last fifty years. This corresponds to a growing de- mand that we should study the past in the interest, of the present. The illustrations have been chosen with especial care, and the legends furnish much information which could not have been added to the text without complicating the narrative. The questions at the ends of the chapters will serve as a review and assist the student in summarizing his knowledge. Questions which cannot be answered from the text have sometimes been added in the hope of stimulating the student to carry on a little investigation of his own and to make some application of what he has learned.