The interest which Cyprus has recently aroused in many quarters makes it needless to apologize for putting forth an account of its history. Prudence, perhaps, might have suggested waiting until the present activity in excavation and research should quiet down, and their results become more definite. On the other hand many, like the writer, must feel that some sort of guide through the maze of authorities is desirable: and it was the wish to clear up in his own mind the facts about a subject which has interested him for more than thirty years, that prompted him to undertake such a compilation. More than a compilation it does not pretend to be: yet, even so, it has proved to be a task more arduous and complex and even less within his capacity than he had expected; and it will perhaps be felt that he has done little more than indicate the many problems, without solving any of them.

The main difficulty has lain in the fact that Cyprus has had no continuous history of its own, except to some degree in the Lusignan period. What light we have on it is chiefly a pale and shifting reflection from the activities of the great powers which from age to age have found it necessary to deal with it on their way to some more important objective. Any picture of its fortunes must therefore be patchy and ill-composed, its lights and shadows forced and perhaps often misleading.