The Story of Civilization
11-volume set of books covering Western history
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Interest in “The Story of Civilization” spiked on Wikipedia on 2026-07-21.
Categorised under History, this article fits a familiar pattern. History articles often trend on anniversaries of notable events, when historical parallels are drawn in the news, or following popular media portrayals.
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Key Takeaways
- Background The first six volumes of The Story of Civilization are credited to Will Durant alone, with Ariel recognized only in the acknowledgements.
- In the preface to the first volume, Durant states his intention to make the series in five volumes, although this would not turn out to be the case.
- The volumes were best sellers and sold well for many years.
- An unabridged audiobook production of all eleven volumes was produced by the Books on Tape company and was read by Alexander Adams (also known as Grover Gardner).
- Full title: The Story of Civilization ~ 1 ~ Our Oriental Heritage ~ Being a History of Civilization in Egypt and the Near East to the Death of Alexander; and in India, China and Japan from the Beginning to Our Own Day; with an Introduction on the Nature and Foundations of Civilization.
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Source summary
WikipediaThe Story of Civilization (1935–1975), by husband and wife team Will Durant and Ariel Durant (known as "the Durants"), is an eleven-volume set of books covering both Eastern and Western civilizations for the general reader, with a particular emphasis on European (Western) history, written over a span of four decades.
The first six volumes of The Story of Civilization are credited to Will Durant alone, with Ariel recognized only in the acknowledgements. Beginning with The Age of Reason Begins, Ariel is credited as a co-author. In the preface to the first volume, Durant states his intention to make the series in five volumes, although this would not turn out to be the case.
The series won a Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 with the tenth volume in the series, Rousseau and Revolution.
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