Beacon Lights of History, Vol. VIII

First published posthumously in 1902, this collection of the lectures of American historian JOHN LORD (1810-1894) is a charming rummage through 6,000 years of European and American history, exploring the past from "the old pagan civilizations" to modern leaders and cultures on both sides of the Atlantic.
This replica edition features all the original illustrations, hard to come by in other recent versions. It will delight both readers of history and lovers of beautiful, classic books.
Volume VIII: "Great Rulers" covers:
- Alfred the Great: the Saxons in England
- Queen Elizabeth: woman as a sovereign
- Henry of Navarre: the Huguenots
- Gustavus Adolphus: the Thirty Years' War
- Cardinal Richelieu: absolutism
- Oliver Cromwell: English revolution
- Louis XIV: the French monarchy
- Peter the Great and Frederic the Great: Russian power
- and more

John Lord (September 10, 1810 - December 15, 1894) was a professor and historian from the United States. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1833 and then entered the Andover Theological Seminary, where in his second year he produced a series of lectures on the Dark Ages, which he presented the following fall during a trip through northern New York. He joined the American Peace Society after graduating from Andover. He was summoned to a Congregational Church in New Marlborough, Massachusetts, and subsequently to one in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, despite not being ordained. In 1840, he resigned from his pastoral duties to become a public lecturer and devote more attention to literary pursuits. In 1843-46, he lectured about the Middle Ages in England, and upon his return to the United States, he lectured for many years in the major towns and cities, giving almost 6,000 lectures in total. He obtained his LL.D. from the City University of New York in 1864. He taught history at Dartmouth College from 1866 to 1876.