Excerpt from History of Our Time: 1885 1911 The latter part of the book is mainly devoted to a bird's-eye survey of Asia, Africa, and America. The closing chapter briefly sketches a few of the movements - political, social and religious - which know nothing of geographical or racial bound aries. The infinitely complex and variegated life of the last generation tempts the historian to crowd his canvas with more colour than it will carry. The modifications of economic structure, the fer ment of thought, the sensational triumphs of physical science, the experiments in literature and art, these and many other phenomena clamour for notice. But a small book is never improved by cultivating the ambitions of a large one. If it is to have a character and a unity of its own, its author must frankly recognize the limits within which he has to work. For this reason I have made this little volume in the main a record of political action, though fully conscious that politics are but one aspect of the many-coloured tissue of Civilisation. 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.