“Civilization is not a gift, it is an achievement—a precarious achievement that must be constantly guarded and renewed.”
— Will Durant and Ariel Durant
Why It's Lindy
The Durants spent 40 years writing this. They won the Pulitzer Prize for Volume 10. No other work attempts to synthesise all of human history and succeeds at the level of both scholarship and prose. Reading any single volume is transformative.
About This Volume
Eleven volumes covering the whole sweep of human civilisation from ancient India and China to Napoleon. The most ambitious work of narrative history in the English language.
Frequently Asked
Why should I read The Story of Civilisation?
The Durants spent 40 years writing this. They won the Pulitzer Prize for Volume 10. No other work attempts to synthesise all of human history and succeeds at the level of both scholarship and prose. Reading any single volume is transformative.
What is The Story of Civilisation about?
Eleven volumes covering the whole sweep of human civilisation from ancient India and China to Napoleon. The most ambitious work of narrative history in the English language.
