Excellent introduction to Greek civilisation

Following on from volume 1 of the series where Durant gave an overview of the earliest days of mankind, here we finally makes it to the first "Great Civilisation" that we encounter in schools - ancient Greece. So why read this book and not the hundreds of others dedicated to the subject?

Continuing his systematic approach and endeavour to give everything its place in the world context, Durant sandwiches Greece between the Minoan period that preceded her rise and the emergence of Rome that led to her ultimate downfall.

His actual approach to Greece is a mixture of chronology and themes. So he starts with Homer's Greece and divides the period into arts, military conquests, mythology, politics, etc. Then he moves on to a later period and does the same thing again. The great benefit of this system, particularly for the audio format, is that if you space out and don't pay much attention at some point, that period will be re-visited later, albeit at a different angle.

Greece can be approached from many sides - philosophy, architecture, poetry - and this book is an excellent primer that provides solid foundations for whatever branch of ancient Greece a curious reader might want to pursue in the future. I had to study the Peloponnesian War at university, and it was nice to finally put that episode into the greater historic context. Having read four volumes of this series so far, I believe that Durant's greatest achievement is tying up together the myriad of narratives that a history buff will come across in their reading, but won't necessarily be able to piece together.

My only quibble with the text is that Durant sometimes goes into just a little too much detail. Perhaps it is his own preferences coming through (or my trauma of dealing with Thucydides), but I could have done with fewer names of various generals and minor military skirmishes. Durant's description of Hannibal in the next volume of the series is breathtaking, but some of the battles and politicians afforded space in this book, feel rather inconsequential to the greater picture.

I am assuming that the written version of this text is illustrated, and the audio format does suffer when Durant goes into abundant detail describing various columns and other technicalities of the Greek art world.

Stefan Rudnicki provides a great narration. His delivery is sharp and - as far as I could tell - he pronounces everything properly. His timing is impeccable - he doesn't rush, and gives enough time to absorb the flood of information, but neither does he drag his feet, which some narrators unfortunately do when presented with a "big narrative".

Overall, this is a commendable second installment in this wonderful series.

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8 people found this helpful

A Masterpiece

This book has an impressive coverage and authorship. It is remarkably enjoyable as well as informative. I am aware that it can be dated but its depth is still invaluable.

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Majestic

Be prepared. I can now see why this series won the Pulitzer prize. It is majestic in its sweep. A full history of Greek civilisation from Minoan to Alexander and beyond. It encompasses everything - art geography science war etc etc. Unless you have a degree in Ancient Greek history be ready with the pause button and Wikipedia as there are so many characters mentioned it can be a little difficult to keep up. Can't wait for the next one.

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1 person found this helpful

Another amazing book from Will Durant

The narration is absolutely fantastic. Highly recommended. I need to read the next one. Is too bad Will Durant hasn't covered the history of every period and civilization possible, because every single one he wrote I absolutely love it, and I am not a history buff.

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Admire

I am a big admire of Durant history project. I love the humour, the wit, the ironic comments. This civilisation series books are rich and knowledgeable.

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