History of Civilisation

This volume provides a detailed portrait of Rome at the height of its glory.

William Stearns Davis (April 30, 1877 – February 15, 1930) was an American educator, historian, and author. He has been cited as one who "contributed to history as a scholarly discipline, . . . [but] was intrigued by the human side of history, which, at the time, was neglected by the discipline." After first experimenting with short stories, he turned while still a college undergraduate to longer forms to relate, from an involved (fictional) character's view, a number of critical turns of history. This faculty for humanizing, even dramatizing, history characterized Davis' later academic and professional writings as well, making them particularly suitable for secondary and higher education during the first half of the twentieth century in a field which, according to one editor, had "lost the freshness and robustness . . . the congeniality" that should mark the study of history.

Describes the 118-year rule of England by the Tudor monarchs: Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Jane Grey, Mary I, and Elizabeth I.

Synthesizes events with an analysis of the cause and effect of developments of the era from the death of King Felipe II of Spain in 1598 to the death of Louis XIV of France in 1715.

The theme of this book is the poliltical system of Russia. It traces the growth of the Russian state from its beginnings in the ninth century to the end of the nineteenth, and the parallel development of the principal social orders: peasantry, nobility, middle class and clergy. The question which it poses is why in Russia -- unlike the rest of Europe to which Russia belongs by virtue of her location, race and religion -- society has proven unable to impose on political authority any kind of effective restraints. After suggesting some answers to this problem, I go on to show how in Russia the opposition to absolutism tended to assume the form of a struggle for ideals rather than for class interests, and how the imperial government, challenged in this manner, responded by devising administrative practices that clearly anticipate those of the modern police state. --

"Just as it seems more plausible to suppose that Moses existed than to believe that he did not, so, too, it is hard to believe that all the mass of religious institutions ascribed to Moses was really the work of other men, the anonymous product, that is to say, of natural, gradual growth over a period of centuries. After all, Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha and Jesus were historical figures, despite the legends attached to their names. And the Mosaic religion contained astonishing novelities, which look as though they reflect the thought of one single, decisive individual.