The Durants discuss their scholarly and personal life together, their enduring love for each other, and the acquaintanceship of almost every major literary and intellectual personality in Europe and America

Will & Ariel Durant: A Dual Autobiography

History

Durant, Will

Durant, Ariel

Americas

Simon&Schuster

Rousseau and Revolution

BOOKS ON TAPE]

The Age Of Reason Begins: The Story Of Civilization, V7

Literature & Fiction

Literary

Literary Licensing, LLC

In Eleven Volumes. Volume Seven Includes A History Of European Civilization In The Period Of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, And Descartes, 1558-1648.

A concise survey of the culture and civilization of mankind, The Lessons of History is the result of a lifetime of research from Pulitzer Prize–winning historians Will and Ariel Durant. With their accessible compendium of philosophy and social progress, the Durants take us on a journey through history, exploring the possibilities and limitations of humanity over time. Juxtaposing the great lives, ideas, and accomplishments with cycles of war and conquest, the Durants reveal the towering themes of history and give meaning to our own.

The Lessons of History

Historical Study & Educational Resources

The Age of Louis XIV is the biography of a period (1648-1715) that Spengler considered the apex of modern European civilization. "Some centuries hence," Frederick the Great correctly predicted to Voltaire, "they will translate the good authors of the age of Pericles and Augustus." Those authors are lovingly treated here: Pascal, Racine, and Boileau, Madame de Sevigne, Madame de la Fayette, and above all the philosopher-dramatist Moliere, who so memorably exposed the vices and hypocrisies of the age.Central to the book is the "Sun King" himself, Louis XIV. Louis XIV ruled France for over seventy years, longer than almost any European ruler in history. He is the subject of a character study that runs through seven chapters, revealing the flesh and blood beneath the purple and the crown. He is seen at his worst in his struggle with Jansenists and Huguenots, at his best in his patronage of literature and art, and at his most human in his love affairs with Henrietta Anne of Orleans, Louise de La Valliere, Madame de Montespan, and Madame de Maintenon.From France the narrative passes to the Netherlands, and after pausing to examine the domestic idylls of Vermeer, shows the Dutch opening their dikes to save their land from Louis XIV and sending William of Orange to become king of England and a leader of the European alliance against Louis' hegemony. In England we contemplate the heyday of virtue under the Puritans and study the strange character of Cromwell. We see Milton's passionate career as part of the vain effort to prevent the Stuart Restoration. We find Charles II, the "Merry Monarch," with more manners than morals, attend boisterous Restoration plays; we skim the diaries of Evelyn and Pepys; and we follow Jonathan Swift from genius to insanity.Crossing the North Sea we trace the tragic heroism of Charles XII of Sweden and the attempt of Peter the Great to lead Russia from barbarism to civilization. We accompany the noble Sobieski of Poland as he rescues Vienna from the Turks. We visit Italy and Spain. We see the Jews proscribed and impoverished in Europe but rising to riches in Amsterdam and following Sabbatai Zevi in a desperate hope of regaining Palestine and freedom.All this forms the background for the "intellectual adventure" of the European mind in its passage from superstition, mythology, and intolerance to education, science, and philosophy, for this was the age when Newton and Leibniz gave simultaneous birth to calculus, when Newton bound the planets and the stars with a chain of universal gravitation. Toward the end of the volume the authors revert to their favorite subject, philosophy, and devote a full chapter, with love and care, to Spinoza. The book ends with the sunset of Le Roi Soleil: Louis punished for his aggressions by a swarm of enemies gathering around him; fighting till his people are destitute and disillusioned, till his treasury and his heart are empty; dying defeated and repentant, begging his grandson and successor not to imitate his taste for splendor and war; and followed in his funeral by the insults of the crowd.

The Age of Louis XIV Lib/E: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Pascal, Moliere, Cromwell, Milton, Peter the Great, Newton, and Spinoza, 1648-1715 (Story of Civilization (Audio))

Europe

Blackstone Publishing

[Read by Stefan Rudnicki] An engrossing volume on European civilization by Pulitzer Prize-winning historians Will and Ariel Durant The eighth volume of Will Durant's acclaimed ''Story of Civilization'' series, The Age of Louis XIV chronicles the history of European civilization from 1648 to 1715. In this masterful work, listeners will encounter the tumultuous rule of the Louis XIV, who ruled France for over seventy years; the artists and leaders of England, including Milton, Jonathan Swift, and the Merry Monarch, Charles II; the tragic heroism of Swedens Charles XII and Peter the Greats reign in Russia; the persecution of Jews across Europe; and the intellectual adventure of the European mind from superstition and intolerance to science and philosophy. This volume ends with the death of Louis XIV, who left his people both destitute and disillusioned.

The Age of Louis XIV (The Story of Civilization, 8)

Blackstone Pub

This seventh volume of Will and Ariel Durant's renowned Story of Civilization chronicles the history of European civilization from 1558 to 1648.The Age of Reason Begins brings together a fascinating network of stories in the discussion of the bumpy road toward the Enlightenment. This is the age of great monarchs and greater artists--on the one hand, Elizabeth I of England, Philip II of Spain, and Henry IV of France; on the other, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne, and Rembrandt. It also encompasses the heyday of Francis Bacon, Galileo, Giordano Bruno, and Descartes, the fathers of modern science and philosophy. But it is equally an age of extreme violence, a moment in which all Europe was embroiled in the horrible Thirty Years' War--in some respects, the real first world war. This chapter in cultural history is one that can't be missed.

The Age of Reason Begins Lib/E: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558-1648 (Story of Civilization (Audio))

The Pulitzer Prize-winning volume on European civilization by acclaimed historians Will and Ariel DurantRousseau and Revolution, the tenth volume of the Story of Civilization, ranges over a Europe in ferment, but centers on the passionate rebel-philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the great exponent of the romantic impulse toward self-exploration and social revolt, who contended with the great rationalist Voltaire for the mind of Europe. Rousseau condemned civilization as a disease, glorified the noble savage, proclaimed to the world with equal intensity his own love affairs and the natural rights of man, and became the patron saint of the revolution and the worldwide social upheavals of two centuries.

Rousseau and Revolution Lib/E: A History of Civilization in France, England, and Germany from 1756, and in the Remainder of Europe from 1715 to 1789 (Story of Civilization (Audio))

The Age of Napoleon Lib/E: A History of European Civilization from 1789 to 1815 (Story of Civilization (Audio))

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Durant, Ariel. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Durant, Ariel

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Durant, Ariel. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Will & Ariel Durant: A Dual Autobiography

Rousseau and Revolution

The Age Of Reason Begins: The Story Of Civilization, V7

The Age Of Reason Begins: The Story Of Civilization, V7

The Lessons of History

The Age of Louis XIV Lib/E: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Pascal, Moliere, Cromwell, Milton, Peter the Great, Newton, and Spinoza, 1648-1715 (Story of Civilization (Audio))

The Age of Louis XIV (The Story of Civilization, 8)

The Age of Reason Begins Lib/E: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes: 1558-1648 (Story of Civilization (Audio))

Rousseau and Revolution Lib/E: A History of Civilization in France, England, and Germany from 1756, and in the Remainder of Europe from 1715 to 1789 (Story of Civilization (Audio))

The Age of Napoleon Lib/E: A History of European Civilization from 1789 to 1815 (Story of Civilization (Audio))