The Dawn of History Author:J. L. Myres, M. A. When people pass from "prehistoric" times, with primitive - almost animal - uniformity of behaviour, into a "historic" existence, with successive changes of habits and institutions brought about at ascertainable dates, and more and more usually, as times goes on, through the influence and agency of "historical characters," they generally do so n... more »ot suddenly, but by degrees. Frequently, for example, we know a good deal about the art, the trade, and the manufactures of a people, before we know much about their language or their institutions. At the same time, most of the peoples who have played a great part in history, have as a matter of fact started their "historical" period with something of a crisis, and period of rapid change.
It is in this sense that we may speak of a "Dawn of History" as a subject of scientific study; and it is the object of this book to answer the question, how, when, and where, each of the people whose doings have most affected the course of human history made its first historical appearance and also, as far as we can, the reason why they made their appearance in this particular way.« less