Will Durant

Ariel Durant

A concise survey of the culture and civilization of mankind, The Lessons of History is the result of a lifetime of research from Pulitzer Prize–winning historians Will and Ariel Durant. With their accessible compendium of philosophy and social progress, the Durants take us on a journey through history, exploring the possibilities and limitations of humanity over time. Juxtaposing the great lives, ideas, and accomplishments with cycles of war and conquest, the Durants reveal the towering themes of history and give meaning to our own.

The Lessons of History

Includes material on the influence of biology, race, character, morals, religion, economics, socialism, government, and war on history.

Timeo Williams

Great book.

We live in the best of times, though it is tempting to stimulate living in the era of Augustus through Aurelius. 

A few quotes from Will:
" If we were to judge forms of government for their prevalence and duration in history we should have to give the palm to monarchy. "(69)

" The socialist agitation subsided the Restoration, but it rose again when the Industrial Revolution revealed the greed and brutality of early capitalism- child labor, woman labor, long hours, low wages, abd disease breeding factories and slums. " (65) 

"As long as there is poverty there will be gods." (51)

rumbledethumps

At first I was put off by the authors' use of 5 words where 2 would do. "a multitude of doubts assail our enterprise." And, "some young doctor of philosophy in physics...."

But after pressing on I realized this book was like nothing I had read. It is a concise evaluation of how different actions and emotions affect history. It is strongly opinionated, but their opinions are worth wrestling with, as they do not come from a specific side of the political spectrum.

I eventually got used to their verbosity, and even began to appreciate it, and realize how effectively it expressed their ideas. "Communist governments, armed with old birth rates and new weapons...."

Highly recommended, especially for people who like to wrestle with ideas about history.

Matthew Royal

I used to think this book was brilliant. Now I see I liked it because of its certainty in its correctness. As a model of history, it's not incorrect, but it’s definitely just one perspective, and one that precludes many other valid paths into the future.

“Utopias of equality are biologically doomed."

"Inequality is not only natural and inborn, it grows with the complexity of civilization.”

“We are acquisitive, greedy, and pugnacious because our blood remembers millenniums through which our forebears had to chase and fight and kill in order to survive, and had to eat to their gastric capacity for fear they should not soon capture another feast. War is a nation’s way of eating.” p. 18

War is not the only table at which social organisms can feed. Trade is a far more bountiful feast than war, which can only consume what already exists. Trade produces new things through creativity and cross-pollination; trade is not a zero-sum game like war: it increases in size and value exponentially following network effects.

The Lessons of History

Reviews