Excerpt from The Childhood of the English Nation: Or the Beginnings of English History The aim of this little book is to awaken an interest in the study of English history in those who have never felt its charm. When first I began to write it, no short and simple History of England had appeared which made any attempt to give unlearned people an insight below the surface of the bare facts. Since then numerous works of the kind have appeared, and notably Mr. Green's 'Short History of the English People.' Yet, even after its publication, there appeared to me to be still room for a book of the kind I had attempted, a book which should act as interpreter to those who have no knowledge of history, and serve as an introduction to larger and better works. The early part of our history is so far removed from the thought of an average Englishman, that ho cannot understand it without study; yet he is deceived by fancying that he understands it, and pronounces such words as monasticism, feudal system, English constitution, without knowing at all what lies behind them. Yet the interest of history lies in penetrating to the inner meaning of these things, in entering into the thought and feeling of past ages. 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.