Particularize Books Supposing Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization #1)
| Original Title: | Our Oriental Heritage (Story of Civilization 1) |
| ISBN: | 1567310125 (ISBN13: 9781567310122) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Story of Civilization #1, قصة الحضارة #1-5, نشأة الحضارة: الشرق #1 , more |
Narrative To Books Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization #1)
This is the classic reference on world history, recognized as the most comprehensive general history ever written, the result of four decades of work by Will and Ariel Durant -- a set that The New York Times called "a splendid, broad panorama of hereditary culture in words and images that the layman can fully understand." This series began as an effort to write a history on the nineteenth century, an undertaking that Will Durant realized could only be understood in terms of what had come before. So the Durants embarked on an encyclopedic survey of all civilization, ancient and modern, Occidental and Oriental.
The books:
Our Oriental Heritage (Volume 1): Will Durant opens his massive survey of civilized history with a sweeping look at the Orient: the Egyptians, who perfected monumental architecture, medicine and mummification; the Babylonians, who developed astronomy and physics; the Judeans, who preserved their culture in the immortal books of the Old Testament; and the Persians, who ruled the largest empire in recorded history before Rome.
The Life of Greece (Volume 2): Will Durant's survey of ancient Greece shows us the origins of democracy and the political legacy to the Western world; the golden age of Athens, its architecture, poetry, drama, sculpture and Olympic contests; the blossoming of philosophical thought amid a society still rooted in slavery and barbarism; and the mysterious lost island of Crete, land of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth.
Caesar and Christ (Volume 3): Spanning a millenium in Roman history, the third volume in the Durants' series shows us a world-conquering Roman army, undefeated, unafraid and...vegeterian; Hannibal, who transported an army of elephants over the Alps to invade Rome; Julius Caesar, who brought Western Europe under Roman rule; the life and Passion of Christ; and the struggle of the rising church.
The Age of Faith (Volume 4): Over 1,000 years, we meet the Christian ascetics and martyrs, including Simeon Stylites, who sat atop a pillar for 30 years, exposed to rain, sun, and snow, and rejoiced as worms ate his rotting flesh; the saints, including Augustine, the most influential philosopher of his age; Mohammed, the desert merchant who founded a religion that conquered one-third of the known world in two centuries; and the Italian poet Dante, whose sensibility marks the transition to the Renaissance.
The Renaissance (Volume 5): In this volume, Will Durant examines the economic seeds -- the growth of industry, the rise of banking families, the conflicts of labor and capital -- for Italy's emergence as the first nation to feel the awakening of the modern mind. He follows the cultural flowering from Florence to Milan to Verona and eventually to Rome, allowing us to witness a colorful pageant of princes, queens, poets, painters, sculptors and architects. We see humanity moved boldly from a finite world to an infinite one.
The Reformation (Volume 6): In Europe's tumultuous emergence from the Middle Ages, we encounter two rival popes fighting for control of a corrupt, cynical church; the Hundred Years' War and 13-year-old warrior Joan of Arc; Christopher Columbus' accidental discovery of the New World; and Martin Luther, who defied the pope and ultimately led Northern Europe into the age of individualism.
The Age of Reason Begins (Volume 7): In one of Europe's most turbulent centuries, Philip II of Spain sees his "invincible" armada suffer defeat at the hands of England; Elizabeth I of England receives assistance from explorer Walter Raleigh and pirate Francis Drake; and new appeals for reason and science are exemplified in the ideas of Copernicus, Galileo and Descartes.
The Age of Louis XIV (Volume 8): This installment is the biography of a period some consider the apex of modern European civilization. "Some centuries hence," Frederick the Great predicted to Voltaire, "they will translate the good authors of the time of Louis XIV as we translate those of the age of Pericles or Augustus." Those authors are lovingly treated here: Pascal and Fenelon, Racine and Boileau, Mme. de Sevigne and Mme. de La Fayette, and, above all, the philosopher-dramatist Moliere, exposing the vices and hypocrisies of the age.
The Age of Voltaire (Volume 9): A biography of a great man and the period he embodied. We witness Voltaire's satiric work in the salons and the theater as well as his banishment to England. With him we view the complex relationships between nobility, clergy, bourgeoisie and peasantry in the France of Louis XV. We explore the music of Bach and the struggle between Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa of Austria. And finally we hear an imaginary discussion between Voltaire and Pope Benedict XIV on the significance and value of religion.
Rousseau and Revolution (Volume 10): This volume ranges over a Europe in ferment, but centers on the passionate rebel-philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who contended with Voltaire for the mind of Europe. Rousseau condemned civilization as a disease, glorified the noble savage, proclaimed to the world with equal intensity his own love affairs and the natural rights of man, and became the patron saint of the French Revolution and social upheavals across the globe for two centuries.
The Age of Napoleon (Volume 11): The final volume. Napoleon is the archetypical hero, whose restless, ambitious, and intelligent mind dominated his age and has never ceased to fascinate the world he helped fashion. Yet even Bonaparte is dwarfed by the age that took his name. For, the Durants have re-created the life, the history, the arts, the science, the politics, the philosophy, the manners and the morality, the very spirit of the turbulent epoch that began with the French Revolution, ended with the fall of the emperor and ushered in the modern world.
Itemize Regarding Books Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization #1)
| Title | : | Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization #1) |
| Author | : | Will Durant |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 1047 pages |
| Published | : | 1993 by Fine (first published 1935) |
| Categories | : | History. Nonfiction. Philosophy. World History. Ancient History. Historical. Cultural. China |
Rating Regarding Books Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization #1)
Ratings: 4.29 From 2250 Users | 255 ReviewsEvaluation Regarding Books Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization #1)
This volume of Durant's Story of Civilization is distinctive for being the most cursory, his aim having been to cover all prehistory, ancient civilizations before the Greeks and Asian civilizations--quite a task for just over a thousand pages! Besides being a skimming of the surface, this volume is also the most painfully dated as it only goes up to the mid-thirties. I kept on thinking of the impending world war and of the independence of India thereafter.It is unfortunate that anyoneVery dated history of the middle east and India and China. Basically what was considered "the civilized other" by West circa 1950. It is fairly liberal for the time it is written but is definitely old school. Still, Durant for all his baggage does make some observations that are perceptive. He was a product of a certain time and place and he is good at writing and he sees some things that may ring true today. My major compliment is that he is readable and urbane. I hope the same can be said
This tome is a wonderful tour of the oldest human civilizations that existed (China, Japan, India, Judea, Persia, Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria) and that influenced Europe in any way.The Durants know very well how to make history a funny thing with their witty comments and great analysis. What's in the menu for you? Well everything that a respected civilization do: Art, wars, politics, philosophy, culture, religion, etc.
Before reading this bookI'd assumed that this is merely a history textbookIt'll have a story of some countries and tell how some king lived or died. Make no mistake, I was hoping that the writer had narrated this tale in such a grandiose style that the story would come to lifeWhat I never imagined that I before telling us the story of civilization , the writer would start with teaching us what exactly is civilizationThe introduction is a lecture in anthropology.Then he goes on to teach us about
I read this incredibly glued together account of history. It was a privilege to read a history book from the eyes of a deceased scholar. I mean, when discussing India, Will Durant mentions Gandhi and includes him in his book when the latter is still alive!This was a fascinating read. It was my longest slog. I began reading in early 2019 and finished it after what seemed a long time of shifting from civilization to civilisation. I have never read a book like this. Nor will anyone. This tome lies
I am taking this book slowly and hope to read most of Durant's books as the years go by.One interesting insight: Durant says the greatest invention was the common noun. He then talks about many primitive societies that did not have separate words for colors or objects like a tree. So they had to come up with a completely different word for a red ash and a white ash. They didnt have a word for red, ash or even tree. That got me thinking about how human beings think and that organization and
I found this book torturingly boring, but I suppose middle schoolers don't fully appreciate history (middle schoolers like me). I did, however, appreciate the content of the book (though I almost died of ennui); its depth is just too much for me to handle. I intend to return to this book once I am ready.
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