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heroes of history a brief history of civilization from ancient times to the dawn of the modern age
in the tradition of his own bestselling masterpieces the story of civilization and the lessons of history pulitzer prize winning historian will durant here traces the lives and ideas of those who have helped to define civilization from its dawn to the beginning of the modern world . p four years before his death will durant began work on an abbreviated version of his highly acclaimed eleven volume series the story of civilization . the project was conceived as a series of audio lectures but durant soon realized that the dialogues could be developed into a book that would serve as a wonderfully readable introduction to the subject of history . p durant completed twenty one of a proposed twenty three chapters before his death in 1981 at the age of ninety six . those chapters span thousands of years of human history from confucius to shakespeare from the roman empire to the reformation finally ending in the eighteenth century . the manuscript was recently found by will durant scholar john little twenty years after durant finished it and its discovery is a major event not only for lovers of his prose but for students of history and philosophy the world over . p heroes of history is a book of life enhancing wisdom and optimism complete with durants wit knowledge and unique ability to explain events and ideas in simple exciting terms . it is the lessons of our heritage passed on for the edification and benefit of future generations a fitting legacy from americas most beloved historian and philosopher . p will durants popularity as americas favorite teacher of history and philosophy remains undiminished by time . his books are accessible to readers of every kind and his unique ability to compress complicated ideas and events into a few pages without ever talking down to the reader enhanced by his memorable wit and a razor sharp judgment about men and their motives made all of his books huge bestsellers . heroes of history carries on this tradition of making scholarship and philosophy understandable to the general reader and making them good reading as well . p at the dawn of a new millennium and the beginning of a new century nothing could be more appropriate than this brilliant book that examines the meaning of human civilization and history and draws from the experience of the past the lessons we need to know to put the future into context and live in confidence rather than fear and ignorance . p will durants work is marked by his own special quality as a writer he is tough minded optimistic courageous and convinced that without a knowledge of the past there is no wisdom to guide us to the future . heroes of history was his last word on the subject and much of it has been aimed directly at the doubts and fears of people today . it is a major and unexpected literary and historical event . p this book is also available on audio tape and cd format read by will and ariel durant . if you would like more information on this and other products featuring will durants life enhancing philosophy we encourage you to visit the web site at www.willdurant.com .
paperback simon & schuster 2009 isbn13 9780743235945 isbn10 0743235940
book type nf isbn 13 9780743235945 number of pages 348 publisher simon & schuster release date 1327708800000