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The Story of Civilisation by Will Durant and Ariel Durant — book cover
History

The Story of Civilisation

Will Durant and Ariel Durant

The Durants spent 40 years writing this.

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.

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