Durant and his wife--who co-wrote all of the volumes although she didn't get credit until Volume 7, "The Age of Reason Begins") are simply the greatest writers of history since Gibbon.

The prose is engrossing, engaging, spectacular, pithy, witty, warm, inviting--in short, I am exhausting the vocabulary of praise for them. I read these volumes, especially this one, over and over again for the sheer joy of the prose.

Durant covers the period from the year 300 until 1300, usually considered the Middle Ages in the West. He covers so much material it is simply astounding and impossible to aborb in ten readings. This book is one for a lifetime of reading.

The strengths are in the cultural area--particular the coverage of writers. Durant was an academic specializing in philosophy so his coverage of subject as overwhelmingly dull as the Scholastic Philosophers makes it come alive. He gives summaries of dozens of writers and the major literary movements in Europe, the Middle East and Islam.

The coverage Islam is extensive but contains the word "Mohammadan" to describe muslims. This is understandably offensive to muslims because it implies whorship of Mohammad. However, Durant is no bigot, the word was simply the fashion when the book was written, much as the word "negro" was in fashion at the same period of time (1950). Muslim readers should not be put off by this. His treatment of your faith and civilization is honest, fair and free of prejudice.

The primary weaknesses of the book (and the entire series) is in the military area. Durant admits his relative lack of interest in this area and relies on secondary sources. He is too credulous of ancient historians--often printing fantastic figures for soldiers and casualties; e.g. he states that the militia for the city of Bruges was 189,000 when the entire town could not have had more than 50,000 inhabitants! He has little grasp of military science and falls back on the conclusion of others with little of the critical examination most every other subject receives at his hands. This is a minor quibble and will probably only be noticeable by those who are avid scholars of military history.

There are, of course, many mistakes--impossible to avoid in a book over 1000 pages of text covering 1000 years, three continents, and three religions.

All minor quibbles compared to the thrill of one of America's greatest writers. Sadly, the Durants are given short shrift by critics and scholars.

As I said, read this book for a lifetime. I have been doing so for fifteen years and I continually learn new things.

In his eleven volumes Mr. and Mrs. Durant come up with a wonderful history of Western Civilization that is simply stunning in its achievement and unflagging level accomplishment for a work that began in 1930 and wasn't completed until 1975.

Will Durant wrote like a force of nature, and this book is a fine expression of his power. The body of his life's work seems to have been an effort, albeit incomplete, to cover the entire history of mankind, and each individual volume covers it's time frame by sweeping through every aspect of civilization: politics, military affairs, economics, science, art, philosophy, religion, literature, architecture, and social customs. The Age of Faith opens with the death of the Roman Emperor Constantine in 337 and carries up through around the 14th century, the dawn of what has come to be known as the Renaissance. As implied by the title of this volume, it was the flowering of the three great Western religions - Christianity, Islam and Judaism - which dominates the story, and Durant devotes significant attention to all three, even though the birth of "Christendom" ultimately emerges as the defining event of the era. The charm of Durant's writing is the passionate love affair he seems to have had with humankind through all times and in all of it's manifestations. While he doesn't minimize the unspeakable brutalities that recur, he writes with an exuberant reverence for the spiritual and intellectual industry that he finds in every facet of human development. Like any competent historian, he also dispels historical stereotypes, and there is no real sense of a "Dark Age" at any point during this period despite Durant's occasional use of the term. However, what does become clear is that until late in the period, it was Islam, rather than Christianity, that achieved the most advanced civilization of medieval times. For readers, such as myself, who are largely ignorant of Islam, the lengthy chapters devoted to Muslim culture may be the most informative and interesting in the book. The Jews, who were scattered and lacked political or military power, are portrayed as bringing a degree of cohesion to European and Eur-Asian development, maintaining a cultural identity of their own, while making remarkable contributions, intellectually and economically, to the dominant cultures within which they found themselves. Inevitably the structure of a book like this is a bit chaotic. There's little chronology to it, and the author jumps from one geographic region and one topic to another in no particular pattern. The book closes with an entire chapter devoted to Dante, in whose writing and life Durant sees both the quintessence of the mediaeval spirit a bridge to the Renaissance. The book's limitations are probably inherent in the author's very purpose, since by covering everything, he's forced by the constraints of space to gloss over much. Even so, The Age of Faith extends over a thousand pages. For readers, again such as myself, who are primarily interested in the political history of the period, the lavish attention paid to cultural topics - e.g., page-long excerpts from obscure Islamic poems, or breathless and detailed descriptions of a particular Byzantine mosaic or a gargoyle on the wall of a French cathedral - are distracting and at times annoying in light of the cursory focus given to weightier matters. Allowing for all this, however, this is a fine book from an extraordinarily gifted writer, and I highly recommend it.

Covering the fantastic weight of medieval history (325-1300 A.D.) from Julian the Apostate to Dante, Will Durant with excessive force and candor handles the decline of a classical age growing into the gloom of the dark ages only to sprout again into a post-adolescent Europe characterized by the emergence of gothic architecture, philosophy and letters, poetry and science, all shrouded by the spiritual jurisprudence of a Christendom at its climax. However, the voluminous expanse of this work not only necessitates the primary features of European civilization, both sacred and profane, but adds to the breadth and timeless lore of it the nature and origin of Islamic and medieval Jewish culture...ultimately constituting the "Age of Faith."

The scope of this work is treated in five books: The Byzantine Zenith (325-565 A.D.), which handles the downfall of paganism, the triumph of the barbarians, the progress of christianity, Europe (western) in its nascent form, the reign of Justinian - his successes and failures, Byzantine civilization - its extent and wealth, science and philosophy, literature and art, closing with an elaborate sketch of Persian royalty and society with the advent of the Arab conquest; book two, Islamic Civilization (569-1258 A.D.), beginning with Mohammed describing his moral character and military prowess which ultimately culminated into the conquest of a vast domain, the Koran - its influence, form, creed, and ethics, the successors (caliphs and emirs) to the "Sword of Islam", the nature of Islamic government, economy, and people, the thought and art of Islam, finishing with its granduer and decline; book three, Judaic Civilization (135-1300 A.D.) - the exiles and makers of the Talmud, and the character of the medieval Jew; Book four, the Dark Ages (566-1095 A.D.), covers the rise of Byzantine, the birth of Russia, the decline of the west, the rise of the north, christianity in a state of confilct, and the origins and rise of fuedalism and chivalry; book five, the Climax of Christianity (1095-1300 A.D.) handles the victories and defeats of the Crusades, the economic recovery of Europe, the Roman Catholic Church, the inquisition, the rise of monasticism, the morals and manners of Christian Europe, and finaly to its flowering...the resurrection of philosophy and the arts.

To undertake such a vast task with so many factors and outcomes throughout such a long period of time - which customarily was characterized by a plethora of follies and misfortunes with the occasional rise and fall of greatness and prosperity - is without a doubt challenging if not wholly impossible to acheive without making some generalizations...but if anyone has ever penetrated and colored the principle aspects of the "Age of Faith" with a common intellect and driving sincerity it is unmistakebly Will Durant.

This book is great for any teenage christian new or old. It's written in a really easy and fun way to better understand the bible and God. Each devotion starts with a story sometimes there a little wacky but they always come to a point, and end with a lesson that is easy to apply to your daily walk with God. Each devotion also has a list of bible verse that go along with the topic of the devotion. I defintly recomend this book to any one who wants to energizer there faith, I know it sure helped me to.

All I can saw is wow! These were true stories about people God touched, healed and blessed. I really hope you read this book and feel about it like I did.

I picked up this book, because it seemed intersting, before heading out the airport for my flight home to Australia. What a mistake. I was up for hours reading about the shape of the world to come. What an amazing amount of research, though written in an easy-to-read, lighthearted style -- and some well-placed humour -- yet with deep intelligence and insight on every page. I am always drawn to books about the future, but most of them disappoint -- filled, as they are, with warmed-over nonsense and silly predictions. This one is both rooted in reality and in tomrroow at the same time, a fine balancing act brilliantly puilled off by the authors.

I really did enjoy this and decided not to sell this book, it's a definite keeper. There is considerable more here than future jargon, substantial details are included of our immediate future workings based on superior foresight of current conditions. Yes, read this book, it will give you added delivery in your chat when the time comes.
If you are truly interested in future workings with this well balanced humor and realism read a phenom, Karl Mark Maddox's SB 1 or God.

Did Faith Popcorn have a brain transplant? Her earlier books were frothy and insubstantial, lacking substance and simply restating the obvious with a superficial twist. So when I received the Dictionary of the Future as a Christmas gift, I groaned. But what a surprise when I began to leaf through it. Page after page of insight, fascinating peeks into the future, and intellectual fun. I cannnot recommend this book highly enough -- I can't think of anyone who wouldn't find rich value and stimulating thought here. I don't know who this new co-writer is, but she should stick with him in the "future."

Overall, this is a great book. Anyone with a daughter should certainly consider purchasing a copy. However, there is one caveat...remove the sections pertaining to tireless self promoters such as Madonna and Roseanne, and teach your children about the greatness and humanitarian efforts of women such as Mother Terease, Hillary Clinton and Sunsan B. Anthony; whom I think the author mistakingly left out. Had she included them I would have givin this book 5 stars.

I and the women of my Branch of the American Association of University Women found this book so impressive that we selected it to award a graduating senior girl from each of our six local high schools. The authors are clear that they have not selected THE most remarkable women of the 20th Century but rather those who represent a broad crossection of the women who shaped an incredible 100 years. The choices must have been agonizing considering all the achievements of women from 1900 through 1999!

Although I may not agree with the philosophy of all the women included (Margaret Thatcher for example), for good or not they made a difference, changed lives and influenced the world around them.

The authors have spanned socio-economic, ethnic, geographic and chronological distances giving a flavor of the whole 20th Century. The photographs are wonderful and unique. When is the last time you saw a truly elegant, young Eleanor Roosevelt?

From those who experienced the early years of the 20th Century to those who will always identify themselves as 21st Century women, this book offers a reason and the means to reflect upon the the 20th Century and many of the women who made it remarkable.

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, leads you through the heart-wrenching tale of a family of poor Lithuanian immigrants. His description is so amazing that you can actually envision the filth of the stockyards, smell the stench, and feel the pain and suffering of the poor, good-hearted immigrants. From the minute they arrive in America, they are faced with nothing but hardships, struggling to survive. The characters and the storylines were very realistic. This story was so real to me, that I actually got nightmares. My only dissappointment with the novel was the ending. I was hoping for something more about Jurgis and the family, but instead got a heavy speech on socialism. Socialism was a good turn for Jurgis, but I feel the story would have been a bit better if it had ended more personally, on his part. Overall, this was an excellent book. I think that everyone should read it becuase it has so much to offer. It not only gives us a vivid depiction of that period in time, it is overwhelming with emotion. It is a major contribution to our history.

The Jungle is a very well written book, particularly for an author who was only 28 years old when he wrote it. The story features an early twentieth century family who has just immigrated to Chicago from Lithuania, and their struggles to survive in America. This is not an inspirational story about the American Dream. Quite the contrary, it is a story about how the American Dream was a nightmare for many poor and uneducated immigrants. The Jungle chronicles the travails of Jurvis and his family, as they struggle to learn how to survive. It is depressing to read about the disasters which befell this family, and how their ignorance was taken advantage of on so many levels. One would hope that this no longer happens to immigrants, but of course, it does, just in different ways. Jurvis and his family work in the meat processing district of Chicago, and the book details the working conditions of the meatpacking plants. Those details led to investigation and greater regulation of the meatpacking industry, as well as modern child labor laws. In the last several chapters, we witness a transformation of Jurvis, as he learns his entire family has either died or is selling themselves into prostitution. Jurvis stumbles upon socialism, and quickly becomes a supporter of the movement to bring power to the working class people, and end the wage-slavery taking place in the meatpacking plants. Jurvis' transformation into a socialist is a classic pro-socialism story, and it was particularly interesting to read that part. This pre-communist account reminds us that socialism is really simply a political theory, which was never really properly introduced in supposedly socialist countries. I did find the last few chapters dealing with socialism to be hastily written, and not nearly as engaging as the first part of the book. The Jungle is a classic, and for so many reasons, it should be required reading in college, if not high school (but sadly, it is not).

The Jungle is a hearbreaking story of an immigrant family's struggle to survive in America. The family of Jurgis and Ona came from Lithuina in hopes of a better life. However, after months in America, their faith in America was torn to little pieces. Ona and Jurgis's lives as a married couple was nothing like expected. The pressure of work, poverty, and illness stilfled their spirits. This book also accurately revealed a sound historical document of the life and suffering of factory workers during the early years of this century. Antanas had to shovel the residues of chemically treated meat onto a truck headed for the cannery. Jurgis saw pregnant cows butchered and their unborn calves illegally mixed with other carcasses. Jurgis began to see how the packer operate. They sold spoiled or adulterated meat without qualms. Their workers were exposed to awful occupational diseases, yet the packers took no steps to protect the employees. They stole water from the city and polluted Chicago, and the city government turned their heads. After the death of Antanas, Ona, his two sons, and the lost of the house the family had struggled so hard to keep, Jurgis entered the world of crimes. He learned how Chicago's criminal underworld helped to corrupt the city's government.