The general topical arrangement of the chapters serves to concentrate attention on essentials instead of diverting it to unessentialsinstead of diverting it to unessentials. Several of the chapters fall sometimes a break in the topic, and sometimes a natural break in the chronology. In the Egyptian chapter, for example, the achievements of the Old Kingdom can be studied separantly from those of the later period of decline; the history of the Greek peoples as a whole, together with Sparta, can be studied separately from the very important development of Athenian political institutions; the discussions of England and France in the concluding chapter form a natural devision of the subject matter.