# Will Durant's "The Story of Civilization"



## MontyCircus (Apr 30, 2014)

11 (or 12) volumes, written from the 1930's to the 1970's by Durant and his wife, chronicling the history of (mostly) the western world (up until Napoleon).

Seems to be regarded as a classic...but I fear it might be dated.  Any fans?  Any haters?  Any alternatives?

It intrigues me, but I wouldn't want to embark on a 10,000 page odyssey without it seeming like a sure thing.

Thanks for any replies!


Monty


----------



## Brian G Turner (Apr 30, 2014)

MontyCircus said:


> I fear it might be dated.



Edward Gibbons' history of Rome is very dated and subject to wide ranging criticisms, yet it was a lavishly illustrated version that I read 17 years ago that aroused my current feverish interest in history. 

Every secondary source has its flaws, but reading widely puts these into context.

If you have easy access to a copy, might be worth having a flick through and see what you think?


----------



## J-Sun (Apr 30, 2014)

I'm not enough of a historical expert to know but my understanding is that specialists in subfields find things to quibble with (as is only to be expected in a general history of such scope in time and space and with its level of detail) and, naturally, it isn't up to date on the latest opinions (or some facts). My personal complaints with it are that it ends up getting stuck in late-teen centuries France and loses proportion. And I never really did more than skim the first volume and the medieval one as I am "incorrectly" more interested in the West than East and in ancient and modern than middle. Reading what I did of it was a transforming experience, though. Durant covers political and military history but brings in art, music, philosophy, and the whole intellectual history under one roof and - whatever issues there may be in the details - provides a truer, more holistic, _more interesting_ history than many others regarding the Big Picture. So I'd recommend it as either an introduction for the beginner or a sort of synthetic picture for the fragmented expert, though I certainly wouldn't recommend it alone.

I agree with Brian - Gibbon is an amazing writer (better than Durant) and arguably a tougher thinker and not quite as all-encompassing, but Gibbon also wrote a wide-ranging history that is old, but classic and invaluable. They share many pros and cons and the pros win.  And reading more irons out most of the cons.


----------



## dask (May 2, 2014)

I read the first three and absolutely loved them. Durant may be the most quotable writer of the 20th century. Got bogged down in the fourth volume however. The brutality back then just got too much to spend time with. Periodically I get the urge to give it another try, maybe even make a bucket list thing out of the series. Personally I think the quality of the writing is top notch. Even H.L. Mencken who referred to THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY as imbecilic thought highly of CEASAR AND CHRIST.


----------



## MontyCircus (May 7, 2014)

Thanks for the replies everyone!


----------



## j d worthington (May 8, 2014)

As others have said, it has its flaws, certainly. Yet it is one of the best capsule (yes, I said capsule!) overviews of history available, and the Durants did their work very well.


(On *The Story of Philosophy* -- I can't agree with Mencken. It, too, has its flaws, but overall I found it an absorbing read, and certainly a very good introduction to much of western philosophy.)


\


----------

