English | February 2nd, 2019 | ISBN: 3597177999 | 19403 Pages | EPUB | 18.34 MB

Will Durant (1885-1981) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1968) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977). He spent more than fifty years writing his critically acclaimed eleven-volume series, The Story of Civilization (the later volumes written in conjunction with his wife, Ariel). A champion of human rights issues, such as the brotherhood of man and social reform, long before such issues were popular, Durant's writing still educates and entertains readers around the world.

William James "Will" Durant (/d??r?nt/; November 5, 1885 - November 7, 1981) was an American writer, historian, and philosopher. He became best known for his work The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant, and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy (1926), described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy"

He conceived of philosophy as total perspective or seeing things sub specie totius (a phrase inspired by Spinoza's sub specie aeternitatis). He sought to unify and humanize the great body of historical knowledge, which had grown voluminous and become fragmented into esoteric specialties, and to vitalize it for contemporary application.

The Durants were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1968 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. Early life Durant was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, to French-Canadian Catholic parents Joseph Durant and Mary Allard, who had been part of the Quebec emigration to the United States.

In 1900, Durant was educated by the Jesuits in St. Peter's Preparatory School and, later, Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, New Jersey. Historian Joan Rubin writes of that period, "Despite some adolescent flirtations, he began preparing for the vocation that promised to realize his mother's fondest hopes for him: the priesthood. In that way, one might argue, he embarked on a course that, while distant from Yale's or Columbia's apprenticeships in gentility, offered equivalent cultural authority within his own milieu."

In 1905, he began experimenting with socialist philosophy, but, after World War I, he began recognizing that a "lust for power" underlay all forms of political behavior. However, even before the war, "other aspects of his sensibility had competed with his radical leanings," notes Rubin. She adds that "the most concrete of those was a persistent penchant for philosophy.

这是一套把无羁的热情和横溢的才华完美结合在一起的文化史的不朽巨著。

举世公认的传世经典，作者因此荣获1968年美国普利策奖和1977年自由勋章奖。

这套书总共11册，记载了人类发展史上的种种文明成果，涵盖政治、经济、军事、科技、宗教、文化、哲学、历史、教育、艺术、音乐等诸领域，极具可读性。

本套书绝对不是有关历史的时间、人物、事件的一种堆积，与纯粹学术的呆板文风完全不同，它是一部流畅优美的“故事”总集。

杜兰特以文明的流变作为考察历史的方式，向我们描绘了一幅横跨诸多世纪的波澜壮阔的文化图景，而历史也就在这样的举重若轻中赫然呈现。

杜兰特用他那简练而富有诗意的文字讲述了一个事实：许多往昔的文明留下来的财富是人类的珍贵遗产，是历史进程中最闪亮的主线。

杜兰特最初被人们认识，是《哲学的故事》的出版，这本书一改往日哲学类书籍艰深晦涩的普遍风格，用朴素简洁的语言介绍著名哲学家，深受当时人们的好评。

如今，人们在寻求“一本哲学入门好书”的时候，书单里总是少不了《哲学的故事》。杜兰特在写作此书之时，不曾想过这本哲学家故事集会把哲学这个令很多人望而却步的严肃话题从象牙塔中解救出来，让这本书成为全世界的哲学入门读物。

但是他真正被更多人所熟知的作品则是他和妻子共同细琢四十余年写就的十一卷史诗级巨著——《世界文明史》。 这套书把杜兰特六十年学术生涯推向巅峰。杜兰特夫妇由于这套书的第十卷《卢梭和大革命》（Rousseau and Revolution)，赢得了1968 年美国非小说文学的普利策奖。

如今，同名图书不在少数，但是杜兰特的作品显然更受青睐。30年代的中国学者群体中，杜兰特被奉为神一般的存在，即使到了今天，对于热爱世界文明历史的人们来说，这个名字依然充满闪烁着圣光。

季羡林先生就曾经说： “ 应该为中国读者感到庆幸。今天的中国读者们接触的就是整整11巨卷的完整的《世界文明史》。”

Story of Civilization Full, 2019 Edition

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