the story of civilization our oriental heritage

If the exhaustive detail exhausts you, move on. Think of them as impressionists, not hyper-realists. They're probably better for 'dip and read' on topics that interest you than for slogging through the whole thing. In my college days (the 60's), they gave me my first intimation of the scope and sophistication of classic Islamic civilization. Third, I'm a sucker for a well turned phrase.įourth, on subjects where you're not a specialist - which is most subjects, isn't it - you can learn something from them. Second, when you want to read more about something or someone that you'll find in an encyclopedia artticle or a one-volume survey history, they've got it. The cover much more than war and politics 'rulers and soldiers.' They write about how people lived when they weren't politicking or fighting.

So why did I buy two sets of them, one for my home and one for my mother's home where I vacationed?įirst, their length allows them to dig pretty deeply into the life of an era. Di volume pertama (Our Oriental Heritage, yang membahas sejarah Timur pada tahun 1933), Will Durant menyatakan bahwa ia ingin menyertakan sejarah Barat pada. The 'history' part of the series they got from secondary sources and, my professors complained, sources that were old even when they used them.Ī specialist will find erroneous or at least questionable data on every page.Įven the books' most attractive feature - they are quite well-written and full of gracefully turned phrases - makes academicians uncomfortablle, They susoect that a graceful phrase too often distorts for the sake of its grace. Will's field was philosophy and another interest literature.

Personallt, I think enevada in #20 hits it right on the head - 'old school humanists.'Īmong the academicians (I took graduate courses in history), they are not very well regarded.

The story of civilization our oriental heritage