Over the course of a legendary career, Will Durant was often asked about the most significant events in history, the best books, the best ideas, and so on. The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time draws on Durant's encyclopedic knowledge to present a world history "best of" that hits humanity's high points. Included are "The Ten Greatest Thinkers," "The Ten Greatest Poets," "The Ten Peaks of Human Progress," "Twelve Vital Dates in World History," as well as engaging profiles of pioneers like Darwin, Keats, and Whitman. This audio edition showcases Durant's eloquence, originality, and his ability to compare and contrast an array of historical figures and achievements.
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From Publishers Weekly
This engaging, accessible book of essays from Pulitzer Prize-winning philosopher and historian Durant, author of the authoritative 11-volume Story of Civilization, should be essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution of thought. Little, the founder and director of The Will Durant Foundation, includes in his slim compendium such works as "The One Hundred 'Best' Books For an Education" and "Twelve Vital Dates in World History." Durant's "The Ten 'Greatest' Thinkers" details minds as enlightening as Confucius and as influential as Darwin, whom Durant says "reduced man to an animal fighting for his transient mastery of the globe." "The Ten 'Greatest' Poets," charts a course from Homer's brilliance to Dante's haunted heart to Whitman's "frank and lusty" originality, in prose peppered with biographical bon mots and excerpts of the world's loveliest poems. Lay folks especially will find this a delightful introduction to Durant's irrepressible style. What else would one expect from Durant, an intellect who, when asked, "Whom in all of history would you most like to have known?" drolly replied, "Madame de Pompadour."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
By the time of his death in 1981, it was fashionable for many scholars to deride the works of Will Durant; his faith in human progress and emphasis upon the great achievements of individuals seemed outmoded in circles that stressed pessimism about the fate of humanity and lauded the power of mass movements. So it is refreshing to again encounter historical writing that brims with optimism and pays just tribute to individual minds and ideas that have shaped history and advanced both moral and material progress. Editor Little is a lecturer on philosophy, a documentary filmmaker, and director of the Will Durant Foundation. His compilation of Durant's essays is divided into sections on the greatest thinkers, poets, books, and landmarks of human progress. Even Durant acknowledges that his efforts to rate "top tens" borders on the frivolous, but there is nothing frivolous about Durant's elegant prose and cogent insight into the lives and minds of men as diverse as Confucius, Voltaire, and Darwin. This compact work is a gem that elevates historical writing to the level of superb literature. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
OF THE MANY IDEALS which in youth gave life a meaning and radiance missing from the chilly perspectives of middle age, one at least has remained with me as bright and satisfying as ever before-the shameless worship of heroes. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
OF THE MANY IDEALS which in youth gave life a meaning and radiance missing from the chilly perspectives of middle age, one at least has remained with me as bright and satisfying as ever before-the shameless worship of heroes. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By C. Middleton
Format:Hardcover
In these modern times of cynicism, worn as a garb of superiority, it has become intellectually fashionable, a pose of small minds, to negate greatness, revealing that our heroes are not heroes at all, but mere historical constructs with feet of clay. Unfortunately, this is a pathological symptom of democracy, where mediocrity must be exalted at all costs, to maintain the notion of equality. Men and women must be viewed as equal under the eyes of the law and society, for this is justice. But we are not equal in health, wealth, intelligence and talent. What Will Durant has shown us unashamedly is "...that at the beginning and summit of every age some heroic genius stands, the voice and index of his time...the guide and pioneer into the future." (10)
This necessary little book presents six essays on the greatest thoughts, minds and books of all time. The reader may disagree occasiionally with his choices, though Durant compellingly argues his choices from his informed view as a recognized historian, philosopher and teacher.
The text is a snap shot of history; an opportunity to see the past and its great historical figures through the eyes of a man who made it his life mission to celebrate what it means to be human. Durant's humanism and enthusiasm is highly infectious - one comes away from his texts with a renewed hope that civilization was once great and can be great again. We have been submerged into the pessimistic, fragmented and distilled perspectives of Modernism far too long. Durant's optimism slices like Excaliber through our fashionable cynicism about the world; he is the intellectual white knight, celebrating the miracle of existence and the endless potential of humanity.
At the moment the world is filled with uncertainty and pessimism, therefore this text is highly recommended, for it might cast a glimmer of hope, and a renewed optimism about the world, the future and us.
Format:Hardcover
After having read Durant's 'The story of Philosophy' I was hooked. This author had made the main ideas that had troubled philosophers accessible to the non-Philosopher; to the average Joe that wanted to know what Philosophy was all about. So when I found out he had written a book about "The greatest minds and ideas of all times" I knew I had to get it.
This book is really short, so you know straight away that he wont be going into too much detail and that the book will have to be really selective about who it discusses. It was unfortunate, to me at least, that Durant had to spend so many pages justifying his selection and thus making the actual discussion of the people and ideas much shorter. Some people received only 2 pages which was a disappointment. It would have been better had Durant instead of justifying himself, written more about those people and ideas which would have justified themselves to the reader.
As he admits readily, many of the greatest poets are his favorites, so I think it would be fair to say that his choice of greatest peoples and ideas are not as objective as one might like them to be, but can such a 'top 10' or 'top 12' list ever be wholly objective?
That said, I would still recommend this book to those wanting to know what Durant thought was important to human civilization over its thousands of years of history.
The selection of book Durant gives is quite good, although personally I prefer Mortimer Adler's, which you can get from the Internet or his book "How to read a book: - Appendix A".
By "efb150"
Format:Audio CD
this book, a collection of short essays, sums up the life of a historian who would love to be a poet. What other book includes the ten greatest thinkers and the ten greatest poets? Durant's style and content cannot be beat.
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3.8 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing
I've been working my way through The Story of Civilization, and loving it. Fast, fun, educational, and entertaining. Read more
Published on Dec 28 2003 by Bejasus
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Introduction To The Wisdom Of Will Durant
It's said that good things come in small packages. Sometimes great things do, too. This book may be only 118 pages long, but between these covers you will find reasoned and... Read more
Published on Nov 9 2003 by W. C HALL
3.0 out of 5 stars
thick as glue
This title is misleading. There are moments of wit strewn throughout but getting to them is like slogging through glue. A few funny lines exist but the humor is lifeless. Read more
Published on July 16 2003 by sigel
4.0 out of 5 stars
Begs the Question
This book was a wonderful overview of Great Moments in Western Civilization, and presented a wonderful reading list and survey of the great minds of our time, and some of the most... Read more
Published on Feb 2 2003 by Luanne Skirmerhorne
5.0 out of 5 stars
A pocketbook education
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to more fully develop themselves through self-education. Read more
Published on Dec 8 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Little gems of Durantian wisdom
At present, I am happily plowing through the 11-volume "Story of Civilization" by Will and Ariel Durant. Read more
Published on Nov 24 2002 by RJH
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