The concept of justice, or law, comes into being as soon as any kind of social relationship is created. For example, Robinson Crusoe, living alone, had no need for laws. There was no one with whose rights he could interfere by exercising his own free­dom of action...

Today Europe is divided into many countries. But from about the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, it was like a single country. It was divided into great estates, and the people who lived on them didn't think of themselves as Frenchmen, Germans, or englishmen. Ins...

Let us see what we mean by democracy. The word "democracy" comes from the Greek language and means "rule of the people." As we use the word today, we usually mean a government where the people help to direct the work of the gov­ernment.

Politica...

Do you know what the word renaissance means? It is the French word for "rebirth." The Renaissance was a period of rebirth that took place in Europe between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.

During the middle Ages which preceded it, a great many thing...

The story of mankind has been divided by historians into three great sections-ancient times, the middle Ages, and modern times. The middle Ages span the time between the fall of Rome and the beginning of modern times in the fifteenth century.

Of c...

We tend to think of Britain as being part of Europe since the beginning of history, but actually this isn't so. It wasn't until the first century B.C., when the Romans invaded Britain, that anyone in Europe knew any­thing at all about Britain. Its history ...

Animal tracks through forests and jungles were probably the beginning of man's roads. They were easier and safer to use than to force new ways through dense undergrowth. The earliest roads made by men for their own use were probably footpaths leading from their sh...

If you were stranded on a desert island and you wanted to get some­thing from one place to another, what would you do? You would carry it! In primitive times human muscles were the only means of transport­ing anything. Man was his own "beast of bu...

Insurance is protection against financial loss. In order to protect his future, a person may join a group in which each member pays a certain sum of money regularly with the guarantee that the group will pay anyloss suffered by any member. This is known as a mutual ...

We are always hearing about how what happens on Wall Street some­how affects the lives of people all over the world. What is actually meant by "Wall Street," and how can it influence the lives of millions of people?

Wall Street is literally a street in the lowe...