Book excerpt: Excerpt from Brief History of Modern Europe, From 1814 to the Great War, Vol. 1 Poland? Is it really true that a great many of the inhabitants of Austria cannot speak the Austrian language? What is the good of learning the names, capitals, and boundaries of the ever-changing Balkan States? Are German bands typical examples of' German musical Kultur? Before the Great War sent us to our maps and our books of history, questions such as these were by no means uncommon, even in highly respectable society; for up to that time we were more interested in the towns, cities, and regions of our own country than in those of Europe. 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.