In England, the feud led to civil war.
But before I tell you of this outbreak which led to the first
execution by process-of-law of a European king, I ought to
say something about the previous history of England. In this
book I am trying to give you only those events of the past
which can throw a light upon the conditions of the present
world. If I do not mention certain countries, the cause is not
to be found in any secret dislike on my part. I wish that I
could tell you what happened to Norway and Switzerland and
Serbia and China. But these lands exercised no great influence
upon the development of Europe in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. I therefore pass them by with a polite
and very respectful bow. England however is in a different
position. What the people of that small island have done during
the last five hundred years has shaped the course of history
in every corner of the world. Without a proper knowledge of
the background of English history, you cannot understand
what you read in the newspapers. And it is therefore necessary
that you know how England happened to develop a parliamentary
form of government while the rest of the European continent
was still ruled by absolute monarchs.
THE ENGLISH REVOLUTION
HOW THE STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE ``DIVINE
RIGHT'' OF KINGS AND THE LESS DIVINE
BUT MORE REASONABLE ``RIGHT OF
PARLIAMENT'' ENDED DISASTROUSLY FOR
KING CHARLES II
CAESAR, the earliest explorer of north-western Europe, had
crossed the Channel in the year 55 B.
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