John Lothrop Motley (1814–1877)

One of the great Whig historians wrote this, and I loved it. I'm sure that many of his conclusions have been subject to revisionism, but the book remains a tremendous read, with many epigrammatic gems. An everyman edition of this 1855 classic seemed exactly the right format, as I spent that summer doing some historical re-enactments and it was exactly the right size for carrying around and reading, as it was an anonymous cover.

1066 The Rise of the Dutch Republic: A History Volume Three, by John Lothrop Motley (read 15 Aug 1970) This volume ends in 1577, with Don Juan of Austria as Governor-General of the Netherlands, and in control of 15 of the 17 provinces. If Motley wasn't so biased he reads well. Consider these words on the battle of Lepanto: "Rarely in history has so gorgeous a scene of martial array been witnessed. An October sun gilded the thousand beauties of an Ionian landscape. Athens and Corinth were show more behind the combatants, the mountains of Alexander's Macedon rose in the distance, the rock of Sappho and the heights of Actium were before their eyes. Since the day when the world had been lost and won beneath that famous promontory no such combat as the one now approaching had been fought upon the waves." show less

1064 The Rise of the Dutch Republic: A History Volume One, by John Lothrop Motley (read 2 Aug 1970) I found this volume and its succeeding volumes extremely biased, but they tell an interesting story. Except for the anti-Catholic bias the book is good reading.

The Rise of the Dutch Republic: A History [Volume Four], by John Lothrop Motley (read 22 Feb 1971) When I read the first three volumes of this 4-volume work the fourth volume was not available. I put a request for it with our library, and was relieved when it was not available. But in January 1971 I was informed it was available, and I decided to read it. My memory of the other three volumes is already diminished, but to my surprise this fourth volume is not a chronicle of triumph. During show more the years covered by it Alexander Farnese does a good job as Spanish commander, and what is now Belgium is saved for the Church. The volume ends with the assassination of William the Silent on July 10, 1594. show less