List $27.95

Written by Will and Ariel Durant - Narrated by Grover Gardner - Unabridged Nonfiction - 4 COMPACT DISCS - 5 hours, 36 minutes

Publisher, Audio Partners (June 2004)

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"Holcomb, a talented reader, makes the discussion by the Durants clear and understandable. His voice makes the text easy to comprehend as each major topic is argued. Students who are familiar with The Story of Civilization series will enjoy this intellectual challenge." --Kliatt

"This production, which features Russ Holcomb as the narrator, is well worth the listen. In fact, the second time around, the essay is even better because the mind's ability to grasp these ideas seems to jump all the way from 50 to 150 watts, much like one of those three-way light bulbs." --St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 1994

What does history teach us? After a lifetime of research and reflection, the noted historians and authors share their profound and insightful interpretations of the most vital lessons history offers. To quote Will Durant, "The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding."

This expanded version of our top-selling history audiobook now includes two additional essays available exclusively on audio, and rare taped interviews with Will and Ariel Durant.

In this illuminating and thoughtful book, Will and Ariel Durant have succeeded in distilling for the reader the accumulated store of knowledge and experience from their four decades of work on the eleven monumental volumes of The Story of Civilization. The result is a survey of human history, full of dazzling insight into the evolution of civilization and the nature of human experience. Designed to accompany the eleven-volume set of The Story of Civilization, The Lessons of History is, in its own right, a profound and original work of history and philosophy.

About the Authors: William James (Will) Durant (1885-1981), reporter, seminarian, and teacher, earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1917.

Ariel Durant (1898-1981) was his wife and collaborator. Together they won the prestigious Medals of Freedom and a Pulitzer Prize. After 68 years of marriage and collaborative study and writing, Will and Ariel died within two weeks of each other in 1981.

About the Narrator: Grover Gardner an actor and director, was recently named one of the "Best Voices of the Century" by AudioFile Magazine. Gardner, under the name Alexander Adams, was the narrator for the audiobook versions of The Story of Civilization.