Edited selections of mostly European history from the out-of-copyright book, A Pageant of History, by R.G. Ikin, MA, Kings' College, Cambridge, 1929.
THE DAWN IN THE EAST
A Journey up the Nile
Pyramids and Pharaohs
The Great Barons of Egypt
The Paradise of the Old Testament
A Library of Clay Tablets
The Hebrews or Jews.
The Tyrian Trader and the Great King of Persia
Buddha and India's Golden Age
THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE
Homer and the Romance of Troy
"The People of Uncontrollable Laughter"
The Fast Runner and the Hot Springs
The Theatre and the Play
The Glory of Athens
Alexander and the Man in the Tub
THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME
Legends of Early Heroes
Early Rome
How Hannibal crossed the Alps
Hannibal in Italy
The Tragedy of Rome's Reformers
Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon
The Roman Empire
The Triumph of the Christian Church
The "Eternal City" of Rome
THE "WOLFISH ENERGY" OF THE MIDDLE AGES
The Barbarians
The Baptism of a Barbarian: Clovis the Frank
Benedict the Monk, and Justinian the Law-giver
Mohammed and the Men of the Desert
The Northmen of the Fiords
Charles the Great: Christmas Day 800
Manors, Lords, and Serfs
Hildebrand and the Ages of Faith
The Cross and the Crescent
Little Brother Francis and Friar Roger Bacon
The Conquering Nomads of Asia
Marco Polo and the Marvels of Cathay
The Romance of Trade with the Indies
THE AWAKENING OF EUROPE
Mediaeval People and Dante
The Great Inventions: Printing, Gunpowder, Mariner's Compass
The Great Discoveries: Columbus, da Gama, Magellan, Drake
Science and Art: Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Leonardo da Vinci, etc.
REFORMERS AND LIBERATORS
Erasmus, the Scholar
Luther, the Reformer
The Congregation and the Society of Jesus
William the Silent and "the Beggars"
The Slow Dawn of Toleration
EUROPE EXPANDS OVERSEAS
"The World" grows bigger and bigger
The Colonizing of the New World
The "Dark Continent" and the Slave Trade
The British and Others in Africa
India's Princes and Traders
THE "GRAND MONARCHS" OF EUROPE
From Reformation to Revolution
Peter the Great of Russia
Louis XIV. of France
Frederick the Great of Prussia
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Washington and the Birth of the U.S.A.
The New Democracy
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON
Origins
The First Act: "The Rights of Man"
The Second Act: The Reign of Terror
The Third Act: "Long live the Emperor!"
Napoleon, the Man
THE BIRTH OF NEW NATIONS
The "Nation" and the "People"
The New Italy: Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi
Bismarck and the New Germany
The New South American Republics
“Whatever we find lovely in a friend, or in a saint, ought to elevate our affections: we should conclude that if there is so much sweetness in a drop; there must be infinitely more in the fountain. If there is so much splendour in a ray, what must the sun be in its glory!”
–Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man