H. G. Wells 
Short History of the World 

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. This short history OF the world is meant to be read straight forwardly almost as a novel is read. It gives in the most general way an account of our present knowledge of history, shorn of elabora tions and complications. It has been amply illustrated and every thing has been done to make it vivid and clear. From it the reader should be able to get that general View of history which is so neces sary a framework for the study of a particular period or the history of a particular country. It may be found useful as a preparatory excursion before the reading of the author’s much fuller and more explicit Outline of History is undertaken. But its especial end is to meet the needs of the busy general reader, too driven to study the maps and time charts of that Outline in detail, Who Wishes to refresh and repair his faded or fragmentary conceptions of the great adventure of mankind. It is not an abstract or condensation of that former work. Within its aim the Outline admits of no further.