“ The plan of this great work had been drawn up with the aid of Ernest Lavisse, but the entire supervision of its execution was carried out by Rambaud. He contributed to it himself some interesting chapters on the history of the East, of which he had a thorough knowledge; In 1885 Rambaud published, in collaboration with J. B. Baille, a French translation of J. R. Seeley's Expansion of England, and in the preface he laid great emphasis on the enormous increase of power brought to England by the possession of her colonies, seeing in this a lesson for France. ”

“ RAMBAUD, ALFRED NICOLAS (1842-1905) , French historian, was born at Besancon on the 2nd of July 1842. After studying at the Ecole normale supérieure, he completed his studies in Germany. He was one of that band of young scholars, among whom were also Ernest Lavisse, Gabriel Monod and Gaston Paris, whose enthusiasm was aroused by the principles and organization of scientific study as applied beyond the Rhine, and who were ready to devote themselves to their cherished plan of remodelling higher education in France. ”

“ He was not improbably moved by considerations of foreign policy to publish his Russes et Prussiens, guerre de Sept Ans (1895) , a popular work, though based on solid research. After teaching history in the Faculties of Arts at Caen (1871) and Nancy (1873) , he was called to the Sorbonne (1883) , where he was the first to occupy the chair of contemporary history. ”