Story of Civilization

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Summary: If You Can Find It, This Is THE Historical Compilation!
Review: Dr. Will Durant and his wife Ariel have created the twentieth century's classic masterwork of history for the general reader.

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.

It will take some time to read through this incredible recount of history, but it is worth it. I was fortunate to purchase the entire set at a chain national bookseller who was discounting the books by over 50%. When I opened the box I was surprised to find an additional bonus book or "twelfth" volume entitled "The Lessons of History."

For the student of history, instead of paying a fortune collecting piecemeal books that cover various historical events and eras, buy this set instead. It is the equivalent of one-stop shopping. This set is a fantastic collection and if you are looking to find an all encompassing treatise of world history, this where to start. You will not be disappointed.
Unprecedented and unparalleled! I rate it at five stars.

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Summary: An Englishman's appreciation of a great American couple.
Review: History understood is history put to good use. Will Durant and his beloved wife report the course of humankind through the medium of it's greatest philosophers. In so doing they become two of the greatest themselves. 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. Since then I have been gradually collecting the volumes of the Story of Civilisation, the joint masterpiece of Will and Ariel . My collection is not yet complete, but I will not allow myself to die until it is. This body of work should be on the bookshelf of everyone whose pleasure is derived from the contemplation of our place in the universe; whose aspirations and inspirations spring from a belief of the ingenuity of the human mind and from the pusuit of contentment and happiness. The books not only celebrate the breadth and joy of human progress, but also delineate and analyse human cruelty and frailty with a whimsical and generous wit that enriches the soul of any reader who is fortunate enough to drink from this well of wisdom.

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Summary: The History of Man in the World. Read and Learn!
Review: The Story of Civilization is an excellent history and the most complete result of the ambitious goal of writing a world history. 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. 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.

Will Durant began his intellectually adventurous life attempting to be a philosopher. He was good at it but he, Like myself, saw the intertwining of history and philosophy. 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). His books exude his philosophical inclinations and are far more enjoyable for optimistic view of man evolving towards greatness through the ages.

Durant paints each historical character has a real human being with the complexities of character we all have. While he doesn't make excuses villains of history he makes sure he humanizes each person mentioned. This is the main constant of the Story of Civilization: Durant sees civilization as a network of real people interacting. His work presents all of recorded history not as chronology and not as a sequence of events but as a progression of people.

The style of the books is conversational and peppered with puns and overall enjoyable to read. He is amazingly concise while still making his points. That being said, he does require that the reader do some work and remember people and events. However, I surmise that it wont require heavy note taking or anything because these books are a fun read.

His style is a good mix of history as literature and history as a science. 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. 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.

Overall you should take a chance with this set. Buy a used copy simplybecause it makes an impressive statement on a bookshelf. 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. If you do decide to read them, you have made an even wiser decision. 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. Buy them read them and enjoy them... you will vastly enrich your life with this set of books.

-- Ted Murena

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Summary: This IS world history.
Review: These books contain all knowledge man ever needs-just for reading them I should be given the $100 prize.Dr. Durant and his illustrious wife,Ariel, are the two greatest scholars this planet has seen, indeed,since the dawn of Civilization.For anyone interested in world changing events, foreign terms in twenty different languages, and trivial facts that everyone will enjoy at the next family party, these books are full of never-ending wisdom.

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Summary: A Must Have For Every History Student-which means everybody
Review: This series is the most complete series on History the world has ever seen and will ever see. It is so utterly complete that the only way anything couuld be added would be by adding books an recent history to the end