The Lessons of History

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The Lessons of History
TheLessonsOfHistory.jpg
Cover of the first edition, 1968
Author Will Durant
Ariel Durant
LanguageEnglish
SubjectHistory, historiography
Published1968
Publisher Simon & Schuster
Publication placeUnited States

The Lessons of History is a 1968 book by historians Will Durant and Ariel Durant.

Contents

The book provides a summary of periods and trends in history they had noted upon completion of the 10th volume of their momentous eleven-volume The Story of Civilization . Will Durant stated that he and Ariel "made note of events and comments that might illuminate present affairs, future probabilities, the nature of man, and the conduct of states." [1]

The book presents, in approximately 120 pages, an overview of the themes and lessons observed from 5,000 years of human history, examined from 12 perspectives: geography, biology, race, character, morals, religion, economics, socialism, government, war, growth and decay, and progress.

Reception

John Barkham called the work a "masterpiece of distillation", praising the authors' balanced treatment of such concepts as the trade-offs between liberty and equality and the tensions between religion and secularism in modern societies. [2]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Will and Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History, prelude.
  2. ↑ John Barkham (August 4, 1968). "What History Teaches". Victoria Advocate. Retrieved 2016-10-08.

References

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