Jacob Abbott

Alexander the Great

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called "The Virgin Queen", "Gloriana" or "Good Queen Bess", Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty. The daughter of Henry VIII, she was born into the royal succession, but her mother, Anne Boleyn, was executed two and a half years after her birth, with Anne's marriage to Henry VIII being annulled, and Elizabeth hence declared illegitimate. Her half-brother, Edward VI, ruled as king until his death in 1553, whereupon he bequeathed the crown to Lady Jane Grey, cutting his two half-sisters, Elizabeth and the Roman Catholic Mary, out of the succession in spite of statute law to the contrary. His will was set aside, Mary became queen, and Lady Jane Grey was executed. In 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister, during whose reign she had been imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels. Elizabeth set out to rule by good counsel, and she depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers led by William Cecil, Baron Burghley. One of her first moves as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement later evolved into today's Church of England. It was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir so as to continue the Tudor line. She never did, however, despite numerous courtships. As she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity, and a cult grew up around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, and literature of the day. In government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was "video et taceo" ("I see, and say nothing"). In religion she was relatively tolerant, avoiding systematic persecution. After 1570, when the pope declared her illegitimate and released her subjects from obedience to her, several conspiracies threatened her life. All plots were defeated, however, with the help of her ministers' secret service. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, moving between the major powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. In the mid-1580s, war with Spain could no longer be avoided, and when Spain finally decided to attempt to conquer England in 1588, the failure of the Spanish Armada associated her with one of the greatest military victories in English history.

Queen Elizabeth

"Mary Queen of Scots" by Jacob Abbott. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

Makers of History

Mary Queen of Scots

History of Julius Caesar

Revisit the famous battle of The 300 in Jacob Abbott's History of Xerxes the Great. Xerxes was Persian Emperor during their war with the Greeks in the 5th Century B.C.E. Jacob Abbott was a writer of popular histories and biographies, and in this book he tells the story of Xerxes' triumph over the Greeks with compelling style, often relating dramatic speeches by significant historical figures. Xerxes was the Emperor of the powerful Persian Empire. His father was King Darius, but his mother Atossa was a daughter of the admired Persian leader Cyrus the Great. His heritage as part of the Cyrus line catapulted him to the throne over Darius' other children. Xerxes promptly convened a council to prepare to attack Egypt, since the Persians were still outraged by the Ionian rebellion. But some urged Xerxes to invade Greece instead, and after being visited on successive nights by three phantoms, Xerxes finally resolved to invade Greece. Abbott vividly dramatizes these council speeches and phantom visits. As Abbott explains, legend and historical facts often become inseparable, and in such cases it is important for people to know the stories which have been in circulation for thousands of years. This is the approach taken throughout the book, particularly in the sections about Persia's defeat of Greece at the famous Battle of Thermopylae. Xerxes' victory over 300 Spartans has been repeatedly portrayed in literature and film, albeit from a Hellenic point of view. Abbott also relates significant parts of the story from the Greek perspective, departing from Xerxes' actions to praise the character and cunning of the Spartans. He contrasts the nobility of the Spartans with the barbarity of Xerxes, yet praises Xerxes accomplishments, which included later burning Athens to the ground. History of Xerxes the Great contains observations about the subjects of the story that make them more intriguing. The Spartan obsession with personal appearance and long hair, for example, is a fascinating topic in one chapter. The precise words spoken by the Oracle at Delphi is another. History of Xerxes the Great is a page-turning history that will please readers of all ages. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com 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.

History of Xerxes the Great (Classic Reprint)

Jacob Abbott (November 14, 1803 - October 31, 1879) was an American writer. He was a prolific author, writing biographies. He wrote 180 books and was a coauthor or editor of 31 more. In this book: Darius the Great, Richard I, Richard II, Richard III, Mary Queen of Scots, Charles I, Charles II

Jacob Abbott, Makers of History

History of Julius Ceaser (With Engravings)

Parentage of Peter-His father's double marriage-Death of his father-The princesses-Their places of seclusion-Theodore and John-Sophia uneasy in the convent-Her request-Her probable motives-Her success-Increase of her influence-Jealousies-Parties formed-The imperial guards-Their character and influence-Dangers-Sophia and the soldiers-Sophia's continued success-Death of Theodore-Peter proclaimed-Plots formed by Sophia-Revolution-Means of exciting the people-Poisoning-Effect of the stories that were circulating-Peter and his mother-The Monastery of the Trinity-Natalia's flight-Narrow escape of Peter-Commotion in the city-Sophia is unsuccessful-Couvansky's schemes-Sophia's attempt to appease the soldiers-No effect produced-Couvansky's views-His plan of a marriage for his son-Indignation of Sophia-A stratagem-Couvansky falls into the snare-Excitement produced by his death-Galitzin-Measures adopted by him-They are successful

Peter the Great

Reproduction of the original: King Alfred of England by Jacob Abbott

King Alfred of England

History of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt

Hannibal

Genghis Khan

A complete biography of William I, well-known as William the Conquerer, this volume features chapters on his early life, invasions, marriage and the Battle of Hastings.

History of William the Conqueror

Alexander the Great was one of the most successful military commanders in history, and was undefeated in battle. By the time of his death, he had conquered most of the world known to the ancient Greeks. Alexander the Great is one of many biographies written by Jacob Abbott. The biographies are written in such a way that makes them appealing and easily accessible to everyone.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Darius the Great

Of all the beautiful women of history, none has left us such convincing proofs of her charms as Cleopatra, for the tide of Rome's destiny, and, therefore, that of the world, turned aside because of her beauty. Julius Caesar, whose legions trampled the conquered world from Canopus to the Thames, capitulated to her, and Mark Antony threw a fleet, an empire and his own honor to the winds to follow her to his destruction.

Jacob Abbott

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