How does history shape our timetable for today? Discover the contrasts between ancient and modern times and what they reveal about politics, society, and progress.

This collection of lectures surveys what changes and what stays the same when we compare ancient and modern history. It argues that real practice, not just theory, matters for applying historical lessons to current questions. You’ll see how ideas like slavery, governance, and public opinion evolve across eras, and why scientists and statesmen alike now study history to guide policy.

• How slavery differed between ancient and modern worlds, and what that tells us about moral progress.


• How despotism can arise and how public opinion and institutions check power.


• Why science, economics, and health reform shape politics and national strength.


• How empires form and evolve, and what makes some rulers more sustainable than others.

Ideal for readers curious about how past systems influence present-day politics, law, and culture, and for anyone who wants a clear, accessible look at big historical contrasts.

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books.

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.

This text has been digitally restored from a historical edition. Some aesthetic errors may persist, however it has been deemed that any such will not detract from the work's significant historical value.

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