Excerpt from An Introduction to Western Civilization: Revised The classroom is the real testing ground of a textbook. Six years Of educational experience with n Introduction to Western Civilization has brought to its authors the usual cargo of approval, suggestion, and criticism. The present revision Of the work has been responsive in large measure to the judg ments Of those using the book both here at Cincinnati and else where. The march of events has been even more pressing in its demands. Much water has run under the mill since 1933, when the Introduction was first published. Events whose significance could be seen but dimly six years ago now appear momentous in their portent for the present and the future. They have made necessary radical changes in those chapters dealing with contemporary events and problems in the fields Of economics, politics, and international relations. The revision has been thoroughgoing throughout the volume. The omission of considerable matter found in the first edition has opened the way for additions Of new material designed to enrich the content Of the book and enhance its value for both teacher and student. But with all the omissions and additions the original plan and organization remain unchanged. It is the conviction Of the authors that the arrangement of materials, tested by results measured in terms of the educational aims originally set up, has proved its value. For the information Of those who may be using the volume for the first time we take the liberty Of drawing on the preface to the first edition for a restatement of Objectives. The book makes a modest attempt to correlate selected bodies Of material from the social sciences. The subject matter has been pre pared by men working in the fields Of economics, education, geography, history, literature, political science, and sociology. The character of the work has been dictated largely by the desire to provide an adequate preparation for students who will later enter those fields for more detailed study, but in no sense is the work designed as a substitute for the special courses in the social sciences. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."