The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time (Audio Editions)

Durant, Will

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9781572703483: The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time (Audio Editions)

ISBN 10: 1572703482 ISBN 13: 9781572703483

Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks, 2003

A wise and witty compendium of the greatest thoughts, greatest minds, and greatest books of all timelisted in accessible and succinct formby one of the worlds greatest scholars. From the Hundred Best Books to the Ten Greatest Thinkers to the Ten Greatest Poets, here is a concise collection of the worlds most significant knowledge. For the better part of a century, Will Durant dwelled uponand wrote aboutthe most significant eras, individuals, and achievements of human history. His selections have finally been brought together in a single, compact volume. Durant eloquently defends his choices of the greatest minds and ideas, but he also stimulates readers into forming their own opinions, encouraging them to shed their surroundings and biases and enter The Country of the Mind, a timeless realm where the heroes of our species dwell. From a thinker who always chose to exalt the positive in the human species, The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time stays true to Durants optimism. This is a book containing the absolute best of our heritage, passed on for the benefit of future generations. Filled with Durants renowned wit, knowledge, and unique ability to explain events and ideas in simple and exciting terms, this is a pocket-size liberal arts and humanist curriculum in one volume.

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About the Author:

Will Durant (1885-1981) was an award-winning American writer, historian, and philosopher. He and his wife were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 for Rousseau and Revolution, and he was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Durant spent over forty years writing the critically acclaimed eleven-volume Story of Civilization, the later volumes with the help of his wife, Ariel. He sought to revitalize history by unifying and humanizing the great body of historical knowledge, which had become voluminous and fragmented into esoteric subcategories. He also strove to bring philosophy to the common man. Durant was a champion of human rights, social reform, and the brotherhood of man long before they became well-known issues.

John Little is considered to be one of the world's foremost authorities on Bruce Lee and Will Durant. He's the only person who has ever been authorized to review the entirety of Lee's personal notes, sketches, and reading annotations, giving him an insider's look at Lee's training methods and philosophies.

From Booklist:

By the time of his death in 1981, it was fashionable for many scholars to deride the works of Will Durant; his faith in human progress and emphasis upon the great achievements of individuals seemed outmoded in circles that stressed pessimism about the fate of humanity and lauded the power of mass movements. So it is refreshing to again encounter historical writing that brims with optimism and pays just tribute to individual minds and ideas that have shaped history and advanced both moral and material progress. Editor Little is a lecturer on philosophy, a documentary filmmaker, and director of the Will Durant Foundation. His compilation of Durant's essays is divided into sections on the greatest thinkers, poets, books, and landmarks of human progress. Even Durant acknowledges that his efforts to rate "top tens" borders on the frivolous, but there is nothing frivolous about Durant's elegant prose and cogent insight into the lives and minds of men as diverse as Confucius, Voltaire, and Darwin. This compact work is a gem that elevates historical writing to the level of superb literature. Jay Freeman
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