This book means the world to me. When I graduated from college (sometime in misty haze of the past), I was the top graduate on both of my majors. When I was called to the stage for my history degree, the chair of the department, much to my surprise, handed me a fancy wrapped package. Once back in my seat, I opened it to find this book inside. All the history professors inscribed it for me.
I must confess that throughout my academic career I half expected a professor or fellow student to have an epiphany, thus realizing I was fraud who somehow had everybody fooled into thinking I was anything other than an intellectual fraud. Sitting there in the quad that lovely graduation day, I felt a bit of that fear beginning to lift. ( )

Just the facts, ma'm... But oh, so many facts. And 180 pages of index to help find them. As a reference for "what happened when", this book can't be beat.

I bought this beat-up local reprint at Chin Shan Books in Taipei in 1978 and couldn't stop reading it: I'd never seen history laid out like that, with every region in every period. Finally got the classy 6th ed. (2001), but I still keep this heavily annotated copy by my desk.

1/29/23

Langer"," William L.