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Loading... The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Timeby Will Durant
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. A slim little book. Some nice tidbits of knowledge. I disagree with many of his "greatest" poets and thinkers. He is of the long line of liberals who say they like Christ but then disparage Christianity as just corruption and war and evil. His swipes against the religion that was the underpinning of all the democracy and enlightenment he adores makes for a strange disconnect, at least in my mind. I disagree with some of his peaks and dates, too. That said, the chapter "A Shameless Worship of Heroes" is a brilliant explanation of, well, his shameless worship of heroes. He counters the modern, ever-since-Marx notion that great persons don't matter; that historians should study masses of people and cold, dead economies and demographies; that personal choice is illusory, that the materialist dialectic makes the choices. Good stuff. (  ) tuckerresearch | May 3, 2009 |  An interesting but very short collection of some of Will Durant's essays about the 10 greatest poets, the 12 most defining dates in history, the 10 most important thinkers, etc. Interesting to read, thought-provoking in content. We're discussing this one at book club on Monday night, and I'm looking forward to the discussion. ( ) jennyo | Jul 22, 2007 | Posthumously published by his estate, this is a collection of Durant's thoughts, lectures and essays on the "best" thinkers, poets and books, stopping along the way to mention critical dates in world history and events in human acheivement. A good "scoping" mechanism, but by no means the final word on any of these subjects. Sort of an intellectual appetizer. Best part: Durant-- who wrote (assisted by his wife) a massive multi-volume set on world history-- records his pick of the 100 best books for an education, which he says can be read in one hour a day for 4 years. (  ) ixion75 | Dec 13, 2005 |  no reviews | add a review
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From the "Hundred Best Books" to the "Ten Greatest Thinkers" to the "Ten Greatest Poets," here is a concise collection of the world's most significant knowledge. For the better part of a century, Will Durant dwelled upon -- and wrote about -- the 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 Durant's optimism. This is a book containing the absolute best of our heritage, passed on for the benefit of future generations. Filled with Durant's 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.
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:18 -0400)
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