Lessons of History

There is so much to learn from history. And much more than is described in this book. However this is a lovely, concise yet very rich book that offers insights from a brilliant point of view. It’s is a curiosity in my vast collection of history books. There aren’t that many books where so much substance is packed in such a small amount of pages. The 120-page book essentially deals with a selection principles and commonalities that bind human societies even though there are that separated by thousands of years. The thing, according to the authors, is that common human passions and desires drive comparable motivations, behaviour and societal change. All is based on the Durant’s decades-long study of and publications on historic topics. It’s simply a distillation of their academic work, brought back to a few essential points. None of the chapters cover more than few pages, yet the book covers the entirety of human history. They explain how in their view historic events are driven by several factors those being biology, race, morals, religion, economics, government, war, progress and decline. To support their conclusions they will present examples. Now, a couple of statements and findings are deeply coloured by the era when the authors were publishing (1967). So while most is timeless and universal, communism comes up a lot. But also homosexuality is cited as a symptom of the degeneration of societies as is modern art. And democracy is not presented as the panacea to all social strive. In fact, they also make a point that monarchy has been the more stable successful form of government and that democracy is hard to execute in practice. The impact of religious institutions on societies in general is being played down a,s according to the authors, they only have a role in moderating personal behaviour. Even if you disagree with some of these views / findings it is still super interesting to think about these issues and form your own conclusions. So I think this book is really brilliant and unique in its set up. The authors, even if a bit quaint from time to time, make a brave and bold effort to offer some general findings and insight, rather than proving insight on specific events. All statements and conclusions are supported by historic examples, so it makes an interesting read, even if you don’t agree with all conclusions. I think that a wide range of readers can benefit from the wisdom in this book although it helps if you have a good framework of history and social science as this will tie a good few things together. The book provides a readable, original look on history but some if it comes close to prose, some of the arguing deals with complex issues or topics that are only mentioned such as the Anabaptists (a topic that fascinates me tremendously). But if you give it a chance it should be well worth reading.

An incredible ride through the chief zeitgeists of recorded history. This reads like a long-form riff or poem. It kept reminding me of Ginsberg's 'Howl', not due to any ideological or intellectual alignment of the work, but the sheer pace and speed at which so many ideas are being flung at you; kind of like standing in front of a tennis ball machine in a strong head wind. Many of the positions and musings the author may hold are ambiguously presented with a degree of arm's length and sense of distance, sometimes hinting at a through-line of reasoning and ideological compass, only to be thwarted by another bent that scrambles your coordinated assumptions on just what Will Durant's political conclusions about history are. He will say one thing that devastates the Right-Wing, only to pivot to doing the same to the Left-Wing. The amount of mileage to the gallon this text produces is remarkable. Obviously, tackling all of human civilised history is no mean feat in itself, but to do so in just over 100 pages without seeming reductionist, lazy or glib is one of another kind. In fact, it is a kaleidoscopic ride at times. Without pauses for breath or sober reflection (though you might impose those on yourself as a form of strategy of recuperation), it bulldozes through history, flagging catastrophes, wars, ideological epochs, deceased civilisations and everything in between in a way that is both harrowing and uplifting. The conclusions are apt and revealing. I won't spoil those for you, but you will have your own by the end, due to the process of joining dots you had previously not. An excellent primer for budding historians and a good long-form essay for those more experience who just enjoy good writing.

This is an extremely informative and interesting little book. Also alarming when you consider that not a lot changes and we seem to be trapped in an unending cycle of human behaviour that doesn’t bode well for us, or the other creatures that share this planet.

A wonderful book with lots of interesting ideas and thought provoking insights

For me, the writing style gets in the way of the message. It is a very formal, stuffy, heavy, and old-school style of writing, and I suspect for this reason that many people will find this small book very tough-going, and will not get to the end of it. Even though this book is not hugely old, it almost needs a modern translation!

Amazing book!

Really insightful except it seems to make a fundamental mistake. Overlooks differences between peoples. Yes, they were around before genetics, but they must have observed differences between populations and rationalised it away like many authors.

It is a real pleasure to read this short book, even for somebody, who already has a significant background in the world history. The authors are succinct, clear and strightforward writers, and historians, mstereing their subject with brio. The may even dumfbound with their savant visons, such as predicting the would-be disappearance of any geopolitical importance of access to open seas with the progress of air traffic and of the aeronautic technique. They just make fie of all economic interpretations of history, considerig the concentrtions and redistributions of the wealth like just an any other natural processes. They are aequally convincing in certainity of progress, as they are uncertain about the possibility of the universal non-aggression pact. The authors are a bit too partial in favouring the Anglo-Saxon world, but this is unavoidable perceptual aberration of all human creatures.

Moet nog lezen, is voor op vakantie. Het boek zit alleszins vol bladzijden met duidelijk gedrukte letters erop die tezamen verschillende woorden vormen. Als die woorden dan nog wat samenhangend zijn dan komt dit vast in orde !

I could read it again and again and again. Easy read, concise of information and made me travel through timeline of the world. I look forward to more books from the writer! Hard to get them in SG though.

米国マサチューセッツ州の著名な歴史学者、哲学者の William and Ariel Durant 夫妻の共著による「The Lessons of History」、英語のペーパーバック版は2010年に発売されている。この本がなぜ生まれたのか？夫妻はライフワークとして、人類5000年の歴史を俯瞰し、「The Story of Civilization 」（文明の物語 全10巻）を出版した。それによりビューリッツァー賞を受賞。歴史のみならず哲学にも深い洞察力を持つ夫妻のこの著作は、米国のみならず世界中の人々に読まれ、高い評価を得ている大作である。残念ながらこの「The Story of Civilization 」の邦訳版はどうも無い様で、Amazonで検索しても見当たらなかった（もし有ったら失礼！）。 1、さて、この「The Story of Civilization 」は、全10巻と余りにも膨大なため、研究者や専門家はともかく、一般の人はまず読むことが難しい。そこで夫妻はその全10巻のエッセンスとも言うべき「重要なポイント」をピックアップし、人々に分かりやすく、13章からなるエッセイ風の文章にまとめたのが、この「The Lessons of History」（歴史の教訓）である。 ２、この本は、とてもコンパクトである。英語版は、ペーパーバックで出版されているが、Indexまで含めてわずか117ページである。つまり大作「The Story of Civilization 」（文明の物語)に記述された人類5000年の文明、歴史変遷のエッセンスを煮詰めて煮詰めて、凝縮し出来たものがすなわち「The Lessons of History（歴史の教訓）」なのである。 ３、夫妻の研究が一般的な歴史研究と異なっているのは、単に表層的に歴史の変遷を綴ったものでは無いということだ。例えて言うと、長い年月には地殻変動より地上の地形は徐々に変わって行く。新たな山脈が生まれたり、断層や噴火で川や湖が出来たり、地表の様相は変貌して行くが、それがどう変わって行くのかその表面的な変遷を調べるのではない。地表を動かしている地下の見えない部分、マグマの「エネルギーの正体」はいったい何なのか。歴史を動かしている根源は何なのかを、人類の5000年の歴史を通じて、その正体とそのメカニズムに迫るという極めて意欲的な研究であるからである。これを実証的に進めるということは気の遠くなるような膨大な作業を必要とし、深い知識に加え強靭な精神力が不可欠な大事業であるが、Durant夫妻は文字どおり自分たちの生涯をかけてライフワークとして取り組んだ。その「エッセンス」とでも言うべきものが「The Lessons of History」なのである。 ４、従って、事業家イーロン・マスクや世界最大のヘッジファンド創業者レイ・ダリオがこの本を読み、推薦するには理由がある。歴史を動かす「胎動の本質」が書かれているからだ。しかもコンパクトに。わかる人には「値千金」、わからない人には無価値の本なのだ。 5、日本では「歴史の大局を見渡す」という題名で2017年に発売されている。邦訳版は176ページであるが、訳者の日本語訳がとても素晴らしい。原書の内容そのものが、10巻の大作を凝縮、圧縮、昇華させたものなので、一語一語とその文章表現にかなり深い意味が盛り込まれているのだが、それを損なうこと無く、的確に日本語化している。かなり力量のある翻訳者なのだろう。 6、Amazonを見るとこの英語本の評価はものすごく高く、何と世界中からのレビュアー数約5000の内、なんと66%の人が⭐️５の評価だ。残念ながらこの本は、日本ではあまり知られていない様だ。日本語版の表題が「歴史の大局を見渡す」と異訳されている。また本の表装イメージと内容がマッチしていない（帯は良いが）。むしろ原題の「The Lessons of History 日本語版 」とした方が売れるのでは無いかと思われる。 7、Durant夫妻が残してくれたこの洞察力に富む研究成果に、私たちが今日、容易にアクセスし享受出来るのは至福の限りだ。日本語版でも読めるが、英語版もペーパーバックでそれほど厚く無いので、高校生や大学生は夏休みなど時間のある時に読んでみることを薦める。ハラリのサピエンス全史とはまた違った切り口で、人類と歴史の本質に迫る珠玉の名著である。

Bello, istruttivo e piacevole da leggere. Adatto a tutti coloro che amano la storia e che siano curiosi di rivisitarla da un nuovo punto di vista

Among the better historians the world has known (Medal of Freedom and Pulitzer honoree)..Durant is a passion that need not be left to old age to enjoy. First course in Western Civilization at USC introduced Durant to those of us that attended there (and other ). Durant deals, in this very readable book, with real history and various aspects of life that are revealed thru history. Among those are Morals, History, Biology, Race, Character, Religion, Economics, Socialism, Government, War, Growth and Decay, Progress (is it real?) Concepts and Ideas based on the historical background surrounding almost all key elements that Durant and his wife Ariel researched and wrote mssive tomes surrounding (The Story of Civilization - 10 volumes & perhaps 11,000 pages!!...Beginning in volume I (almost a summary of what is to come for 9 more)) will engage and open our world from before a time when mankind was still just off the savannas and wondering what was over the next hill, mountain, river and ocean. Very readable prose, engaging, humorous and playful in it's dealings with human activity (Volume I sneaks up in so many ways...as in when we encounter the statement "When the Gods became useful they became numerous" Having gifted or loaned the first of Durant's Story of Civilization it soon became apparent that there is a deep yearning for this depth of inquiry and explanation...Since have given this little book (Lessons of History) to many....old and young. Revealing, humorous, challenging, and rewarding.... Lessons of History is such....coupled with Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness....are Human Nature revealed ... jcmb