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Title Description
The editorial review for this item is not yet available.
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Customer Reviews
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Reviewer: David Becker | August 15, 2002 |
| I have now listned to the entire "The Story of Civilization" series, involving hundreds of hours of listening spread over two years or so of commuting. While I don't expect many will go the full distance as I did, the Durants offer a marvelous perspective of history, weaving everything from music to fashion into the more typical recitations of official doings. They also have a sly sense of humor. I recall his comment on an early fragmentary Chaucer work: "He anticipated modern readers by being unable to finish the work."
All in all, a great addition to anyone's education and perspective, particularly rewarding if one plans any extensive travel in the Euroepan locations that dominate the series. |
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Reviewer: Rex Rawlinson (see other books I've reviewed) | May 21, 2002 |
| The origins of civilization presented in the book are speculative and theoretical. Once one gets into actual history, one realizes how very old civilization is. Out of the ancient oriental civilizations of the Middle East, Egypt, India, China, and Japan, all of them stagnated at a certain point and lay dormant in a seemingly endless sleep, despite order, wealth, culture, learning, and wisdom. The West too would stagnate for a thousand years, when it reached a certain point. Civilization can be dead, or it can be alive, and this book tries to pick up and trace the thread of that life. |
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Reviewer: Anonymous (see other books I've reviewed) | May 14, 2001 |
| So much of the history since 1935 is explained by this book. The insights and frank comments on the nations were more interesting than a pure history text. In a lot of ways, I felt like I was sitting in a library listening to a well-learned person talking about the past. |
Book rating: Reader rating:
Reviewer: Jackson Thompson | March 31, 2001 |
I enjoyed this book greatly even though it is somewhat dated (1935).
The authors are very much aware of their cultural biases. They do not
try to hide them, if they did it would be dishonest. We all have them. How
we see history depends on where we are looking from.
This is truly a story of civilization. It is very deep in art, religion and literature of
the civilizations it covers. It is not a book about what battle was fought in what
year. Wars are covered but they are not the main points. I was fascinated by
how little things have changed. The evolution of religion and philosophy were
also of great interest. |
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