Introductory note on Tacitus (Volume 33, Harvard Classics)

Men who danced among sharp swords --- who gambled with their lives --- who took their women to the battlefields to encourage the brave and shame the cowardly --- these were the primitive Germans who made Roman emperors tremble. (Volume 33, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Charles Darwin (Volume 11, Harvard Classics)

At the rate at which elephants naturally increase, Darwin estimated that in 750 years there could be nearly 19,000,000 elephants. But did Darwin consider the ravages of civilization and circuses? (Volume 11, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on The Tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare (Volume 46, Harvard Classics)

Shaken and disillusioned by the treachery of his elder daughter, King Lear suspected even the faithful Cordelia of evil designs. Her most tender efforts to comfort him failed to drive away the insistent specter of his madness. (Volume 46, Harvard Classics)

Shakespeare died April 23, 1616.

Introductory note on Immanuel Kant (Volume 32, Harvard Classics)

Immanuel Kant, the most influential of German philosophers, taught that it was man's duty to be happy, for an unhappy man is tempted to sin. Seekers after happiness find aid and inspiration in Kant's writings. (Volume 32, Harvard Classics)

Immanuel Kant born April 22, 1724.

Introductory note on Hippolyte Adolphe Taine (Wikipedia)

Through the pages of a book the reader sees the life of past days. Carnivals, processions, battles, coronations, voyages - the whole history of the world and its people is revealed in a stupendous pageant. Taine was a Frenchman who wrote an unsurpassed history of English literature; its introduction reveals the unusual combination of an imaginative and an analytical style. (Volume 39, Harvard Classics)

H. A. Taine born April 21, 1828.