The Story of Civilization, Vol II: The Life of Greece by Will Durant. [Hardcover]

Will Durant (Author)

Book Description

Series: His the Story of Civilization, V. 2 | Publication Date: November 25, 1980

The Story of Civilization, Volume II: A history of Greek civilization from the beginnings, and of civilization in the Near East from the Death of Alexander to the Roman Conquest. This is the second volume of the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning series.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 25, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671418009
• ISBN-13: 978-0671418007
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #570,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkably Readable, January 2, 2004

By 

P. Martin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Life of Greece (The Story of Civilization, Vol. 2) (Hardcover)

As someone who had read virtually nothing about ancient Greece, I found this book to be the perfect comprehensive introduction to the subject. Will Durant's concept of offering up an "integral" (as opposed to "shredded") view of history ("in which all the phases of human activity are presented in one complex narrative, in one developing, moving picture") is just what I wanted. It tells the story of the people, culture (art, architecture, music, literature), politics, religion/mythology, philosophy and, of course, war.

While somewhat daunting at 700 pages, Durant's user-friendly (almost conversational) writing style makes the going very pleasant. I won't go so far as to say that it reads like a novel---there are parts that drag a bit---but it's well worth sticking with it. The people, culture and philosophy sections were the most fascinating to me, but because the political and war bits were not overly drawn out, I read them as well, and am glad I did.

I was so impressed by this book that I wanted to learn more about Will Durant, so I read "Will and Ariel Durant: A Dual Autobiography" directly afterwards. They are an interesting and admirable couple and their autobiography is a good read. I look forward to furthering my education most enjoyably by reading the other books in "The Story of Civilization" series.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece of History and Prose, May 8, 2004

By 

Robert Wynkoop (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Life of Greece (The Story of Civilization, Vol. 2) (Hardcover)

My set of Durants The Story of Civilization was purchased at a garage sale. Poor fools, they did not know what they were selling. Their loss is my gain. Volume Two, however, was missing, a situation that was remedied when I wandered into a used bookstore and there, on a shelf was Volume Two- The Life of Greece calling my name. I immediately forked out eight bucks and headed down to the local coffee house and began a fascinating and enjoyable read.

Having read through Volume 5, The Age of Faith, this has to be the best volume thus far- I could hardly put it down. To be sure there are areas that one has to plow through, that is to be expected of a work of this scope; but Durant has filled my world with the genius, history and drama of ancient Greece.

What made this book so fascinating is that, over and over again, Durant brought us into the lives of these men. We are not merely dealing with historical figures, but real people who lived, made love, made war, wrote masterpieces and who could act with courage, fall to cowardice or just make stupid mistakes. By far my favorite chapter was The Suicide of Greece. It told how a great civilization could fall. The story of Alcibiades was absolutely riveting. Both a brilliant leader and a scoundrel, he pushed Athens towards destruction by his fraternity style pranks that doomed his invasion of Sicily contributing significantly to the downfall of Athens as a power.

Consistent with all his volumes, Durant again shows us the cycle of civilization. He shows us again that the life of thought endangers every civilization that it adores. He writes:

As civilization develops, as customs, institutions, laws, and morals more and more restrict the operation of natural impulses, action gives way to thought, achievement to imagination, directness to subtlety, expression to concealment, cruelty to sympathy, belief to doubt the unity of character common to animal and primitive men passes away; behavior becomes fragmentary and hesitant, conscious and calculating; the willingness to fight subsides into a disposition to infinite argument. Few nations have been able to reach intellectual refinement and esthetic sensitivity without sacrificing so much in virility and unity that their wealth presents an irresitble temptation to impecunious barbarians. Around every Rome hover the Gauls; around ever Athens some Macedon.

I hope that Durant has not just written our epitaph as a great nation.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Done!, June 15, 2000

By 

Dana Keish (Ohio, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Life of Greece (The Story of Civilization, Vol. 2) (Hardcover)

As an avid history buff I have heard all my life about the series of books by Will Durant. I started reading them only recently and I can't believe what I have been missing.

Durant writes beautifully and even though some of these books were authored over 50 years ago they still hold up. He doesn't just cover the political activity of the time but includes much on the way that people lived, loved and died. His sections on the development of art are extremely interesting.

After reading this book, I had a much greater understanding of the Athenian culture and especially the idea of democracy and how it developed. His sections on the great philosophers of the time have led me to read several others books about this topic and to me that is the sign of a great book...when it makes you interested to read even more. I would have never attempted Plato's Republic without reading this book.