Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/11

 PREFACE In preparing my Introduction to the History of Western Europe I was forced to forego all the amenities of historical narration, except those of clearness and order, in my anxiety to present a tolerably coherent sketch of the course of events and the development of institutions. In this and the suc- ceeding volume I hope that the reader, whether teacher or student, may find some of that life and reality without which historical study must remain arid and well-nigh profitless. I have accordingly made a special effort to select such pas- sages as might most readily conciliate the reader's interest. Yet they are not the less useful for being interesting. Indeed, I hope that they may prove to be like that river of which Gregory the Great speaks, which is both shallow and deep, "wherein the lamb may find a footing and the ele- phant float at large " ; for there are few among the excerpts that will not repay careful study and give the teacher abun- dant opportunity to test his own and his students' insight. The rather long and elaborate bibliographies which follow the several chapters demand a word of explanation. They each fall into three divisions. The first section, A, contains specific references to a collection of forty or fifty standard volumes which should be in any good high-school library. j#, Additional readings in English, is especially designed for those who have a good college library at their disposal, although many of the volumes mentioned in this division vii