The Age of Louis XIV (The Story of Civilization VIII) - Hardcover

Will Durant; Ariel Durant

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671012150 ISBN 13: 9780671012151

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1980

Synopsis

A history of European civilizations in the period of Pascal, Moliere, Cromwell, Milton, Peter the Great, Newton and Spinoza: 1648 - 1715.

About this title

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.

Ariel Durant (1898-1981) was a Russian-born American researcher and writer and the coauthor of the eleven-volume ''Story of Civilization'' with her husband Will Durant. Ariel and Will Durant were jointly awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. Ariel was named the 1977 Woman of the Year by the city of Los Angeles.

Review:

''[This work] is informed and highly readable; it is studded with vignettes of the leading figures; it is replete with facts spread widely over the many aspects of human endeavor; it is eloquently partisan for the dignity of man and the decencies of life.'' --Saturday Review

''Will and Ariel Durant reveal, with laudable objectivity, the lights and shadows of a great age in a highly readable book that is crystal clear.'' --André Maurois, New York Times bestselling author

''The chapters are cineramas of information, replete with research. The Durants are always erudite.'' --Kirkus Reviews

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1980
• ISBN 10: 0671012150
• ISBN 13: 9780671012151
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 816