"The Lessons of History" is a collection of short essays based on Will and Ariel Durant’s acclaimed eleven volume "The Story of Civilization". It begins with a great disclaimer: "Only a fool would try to compress a hundred centuries into a hundred pages of hazardous conclusions. We proceed."
And they succeed! The book packs a wealth of insights into a hundred pages. The authors discuss, in turn, the forces that have shaped history. The forces considered include natural (geography, biology), human behavior (character, morality), and human constructs (religion, economic systems, and government). The last essay considers the question "Is progress real?".
The essay on economics argues that wealth inequality is a natural and inevitable consequence of the "concentration of ability" within a minority of a society, and this has occurred regularly throughout history. The authors state: "The relative equality of Americans before 1776 has been overwhelmed by a thousand forms of physical, mental, and economic differentiation, so that the gap between the wealthiest and the poorest is now greater than at any time since Imperial plutocratic Rome."
This leads into the essay on socialism, which strives to counteract the forces that drive wealth inequality. The authors survey "socialist experiments" in ancient Sumeria, Egypt, Rome, China, and South America - all centuries before the industrial revolution. It was fascinating to read this history which contains a mixture of failures and successes. The authors argue that the trend is towards a synthesis of capitalism and socialism (rather than one system winning outright).
The next essay discusses the various forms of government and descibes the special circumstances that enabled democracy to take root and flourish in the American colonies. The authors argue that many of the favorable conditions that were present in the years following the American Revolution have disappeared. The essay ends with the haunting warning: "If race or class war divides us into hostile camps, changing political argument into blind hate, one side or other may overturn the hustings with the rule of the sword. If our economy of freedom fails to distribute wealth as ably as it has created it, the road to dictatorship will be open to any man who can persuasively promise security to all; and a martial government, under whatever charming phrases, will engulf the democratic world."
Hopefully this review has provided a flavor for how the authors have distilled the insights they have gained from years of study. It should not come as a surprise that the lessons gleaned from several thousand years of recorded history continue to ring true today.
This is a book that I wish I'd read in high school or perhaps Freshman year of college. It's a wonderfully written study of how we got to where we are today.
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Customer reviews
I like this book, but…just curious.. why?
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2021
Great book!But…On the cover of book, there’s a word histoty.. How is this even possible? I see that everyone else has the right spelling on their books.Anyone with the same misspelling?
Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2021
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Top reviews from other countries
Sam Allen
Did I read the same book?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 17, 2020
Samfish74
Thought-provoking with some striking outlooks on society and human nature
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2018
Djilly L.
A birds-eye view of human experience and civilisation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2020
A birds-eye view of human experience and civilisation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2020
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.Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 18, 2020
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.
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Kindle Customer
Honest, compassionate overview of history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2017
