Our Oriental Heritage, Part 1 of 2

The Story of Civilization #1.1

by Will Durant, Alexander Adams (Narrator)

Part One Of Two Parts

The Durants' The Story of Civilization series represents the most comprehensive attempt to present the vast panorama of human history and culture.

It begins with OUR ORIENTAL HERITAGE which deals first with the establishment of civilization and then, in rich, fascinating detail, records the cultural history of Egypt and the Middle East to the death of Alexander; of India from the Vedas to Mahatma Gandhi; of China from Confucius to Chiang Kai-shek; and of Japan from the earliest times to mid-1930s.

"All who read this book will owe the Durants a debt of gratitude." (The New York Times)

Genres: History, World History

Audio Cassette

Published March 1, 1994

About the author

William James Durant was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for the 11-volume The Story of Civilization, written in collaboration with his wife Ariel and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for his book, The Story of Philosophy, written in 1926, which was considered "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy."

They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for literature in 1967 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

Reviews

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

You had to find out some time

Being dated (1935) things change, and so does history; as we learn more and extrapolate the new knowledge things will change. The basic information in Will and Ariel's book is still sound. In this volume, they cover Egypt, the Near East, India, China, and Japan. This is to the present day. However, you do not have time to track down all their great references to economics and morality. This book is packed with references and if you do not watch out, you will forget to come back.
In the section on "THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK", he expands on possible original purposes of the Ten Commandments. Things that Cecil B. DeMille never told you.
There is a good section on Buddha the legend and teachings. You might want to watch this movie to see how they differ. Watch “Little Buddha” (1994).
One side book to read that will cover a lot of the same ground is The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition (Vol 1) ISBN: 0486275868, The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition (Vol 2) ISBN: 0486275876
I know this is a short review. I intend to review the other books in this series separately. So, if I missed something in the big picture feel free to let me know.

[Alisha Neva · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic summary of the history of civilization. Some of the information is slightly outdated but the writing is engaging and fascinating all the same.

[Nate Crow · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little on the heavy side, and some outdated history/perspectives. Took me several years to finish it while picking it up and setting it down many, many times. Still, very enjoyable in that history-geek-at-faire sort of way.

I have a fondness for old history books as my back-up to my back-up books.