Page:Source Problems in English History.djvu/17



HIS volume conforms to the basic notion of the series to which it belongs, the grouping of sources about a given problem or theme for intensive study instead of stringing together “fragments” in chronological order. It is better teaching to have a few source orgies at set times during the course than to be habitually taking the sources in attenuated doses. Yet in one respect this work is a variant: in most cases its sources are vertical rather than parallel. None of these studies deals with a single episode. Most of them cover rather long periods and are concerned with the broader problems of the origin and development of certain political practices, with critical periods in national struggles, or with economic and social changes. The editors have often attempted to set such problems while using source books of the older type. The present grouping and the introductory material should greatly aid this kind of work.

The difficulties in preparing such a book are obvious. It may well be wished that the first problem should be the simplest one, and that each succeeding problem should be somewhat more difficult and complex; but the problems must be taken