My collection is not yet complete, but I will not allow myself to die until it is. Since then I have been gradually collecting the volumes of the Story of Civilisation, the joint masterpiece of Will and Ariel. Though derided as a populist by the intelligensia of the twenties when he first penned the Story of Philosophy, Will Durant's rhythmic prose his sparkling wit and his gentle nature has been a constant source of pleasure and comfort since I was first presented with a copy of the SOP some 15 years ago. In so doing they become two of the greatest themselves. Will Durant and his beloved wife report the course of humankind through the medium of it's greatest philosophers. History understood is history put to good use. you will vastly enrich your life with this set of books. While it required 5 years for me to complete the set, I am very happy I have and still to this day go back to them. If you do decide to read them, you have made an even wiser decision. Even if you don't undertake the task you will have a beautiful set of books and your friends will be impressed by your intellectual prowess. Buy a used copy simplybecause it makes an impressive statement on a bookshelf. Overall you should take a chance with this set. The historians among you will be pleased the number of footnotes and the well documented bibliography, but I need to say that if you are attempting to use these books for university-level research, use them purely for their bibliography and pull out a few of his well-worded quotes for emphasis. The mix is necessary for the sake of readability and those of you who have been reading modern histories that seem rely too much on footnotes and data points or provide little at all will find his style refreshing. His style is a good mix of history as literature and history as a science. However, I surmise that it wont require heavy note taking or anything because these books are a fun read. That being said, he does require that the reader do some work and remember people and events. He is amazingly concise while still making his points. The style of the books is conversational and peppered with puns and overall enjoyable to read. His work presents all of recorded history not as chronology and not as a sequence of events but as a progression of people. This is the main constant of the Story of Civilization: Durant sees civilization as a network of real people interacting. While he doesn't make excuses villains of history he makes sure he humanizes each person mentioned. His books exude his philosophical inclinations and are far more enjoyable for optimistic view of man evolving towards greatness through the ages.ĭurant paints each historical character has a real human being with the complexities of character we all have. I believe he saw that seeing the greatness of man's record (history) was more valuable and enriching than speculating on what man might be (philosophy). He was good at it but he, Like myself, saw the intertwining of history and philosophy. Will Durant began his intellectually adventurous life attempting to be a philosopher. Overall I rate them very highly and would suggest them to the interested non historian and implore the budding historian to read them since it is doubtless they will enjoy them. The books are organized in such a way that they can be read as individual works or be read out of sequence with no loss to their meaning. The Story of Civilization is an excellent history and the most complete result of the ambitious goal of writing a world history. Unprecedented and unparalleled! I rate it at five stars. This set is a fantastic collection and if you are looking to find an all encompassing treatise of world history, this where to start. It is the equivalent of one-stop shopping. When I opened the box I was surprised to find an additional bonus book or "twelfth" volume entitled "The Lessons of History."įor the student of history, instead of paying a fortune collecting piecemeal books that cover various historical events and eras, buy this set instead. I was fortunate to purchase the entire set at a chain national bookseller who was discounting the books by over 50%. It will take some time to read through this incredible recount of history, but it is worth it. The Story of Civilization is brought to life in eleven volumes: (1) Our Oriental Heritage (2) The Life of Greece (3) Caesar and Christ (4) The Age of Faith (5) The Renaissance (6) The Reformation (7) The Age of Reason Begins (8) The Age of Louis XIV (9) The Age of Voltaire (10) Rousseau & Revolution and (11) The Age of Napoleon. Will Durant and his wife Ariel have created the twentieth century's classic masterwork of history for the general reader.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |