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       Jacob Abbott

      Xerxes

      Makers of History

      Published by Good Press, 2019

       [email protected]

      EAN 4057664626448

       PREFACE.

       ENGRAVINGS.

       XERXES.

       Chapter I.

       The Mother of Xerxes.

       B.C. 522–484

       Chapter II.

       Egypt and Greece.

       B.C. 484

       Chapter III.

       Debate on the Proposed Invasion Of Greece.

       B.C. 481

       Chapter IV.

       Preparations for the Invasion Of Greece.

       B.C. 481

       Chapter V.

       Crossing the Hellespont.

       B.C. 480

       Chapter VI.

       The Review of the Troops at Doriscus.

       B.C. 480

       Chapter VII.

       The Preparations of the Greeks for Defense.

       B.C. 480

       Chapter VIII.

       The Advance of Xerxes into Greece.

       B.C. 480

       Chapter IX.

       The Battle of Thermopylæ.

       B.C. 480

       Chapter X.

       The Burning of Athens.

       B.C. 480

       Chapter XI.

       The Battle of Salamis.

       B.C. 480

       Chapter XII.

       The Return of Xerxes To Persia.

       B.C. 480

       Table of Contents

      One special object which the author of this series has had in view, in the plan and method which he has followed in the preparation of the successive volumes, has been to adapt them to the purposes of text-books in schools. The study of a general compend of history, such as is frequently used as a text-book, is highly useful, if it comes in at the right stage of education, when the mind is sufficiently matured, and has acquired sufficient preliminary knowledge to understand and appreciate so condensed a generalization as a summary of the whole history of a nation contained in an ordinary volume must necessarily be. Without this degree of maturity of mind, and this preparation, the study of such a work will be, as it too frequently is, a mere mechanical committing to memory of names, and dates, and phrases, which awaken no interest, communicate no ideas, and impart no useful knowledge to the mind.

      A class of ordinary pupils, who have not yet become much acquainted with history, would, accordingly, be more benefited by having their attention concentrated, at first, on detached and separate topics, such as those which form the subjects, respectively, of these volumes. By studying thus fully the history of individual monarchs, or the narratives of single events, they can go more fully into detail; they conceive of the transactions described as realities; their reflecting and reasoning powers are occupied on what they read; they take notice of the motives of conduct, of the gradual development of character, the good or ill desert of actions, and of the connection of causes and consequences, both in respect to the influence of wisdom and virtue on the one hand, and, on the other, of folly and crime. In a word, their minds and hearts are occupied instead of merely their memories. They reason, they sympathize, they pity, they approve, and they condemn. They enjoy the real and true pleasure which constitutes the charm of historical study for minds that are mature; and they acquire a taste for truth instead of fiction, which will tend to direct their reading into proper channels in all future years.

      The use of these works, therefore, as text-books in classes, has been kept

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