The Lessons of History

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 five decades of work on the eleven monumental volumes of The Story of Civilization. The result is a survey of human history, full of dazzling insights into the nature of human experience, the evolution of civilization, and the culture of man. With the completion of their life's work, they look back and ask what history has to say about the nature, the conduct and the prospects of man, seeking in the great lives, the great ideas, the great events of the past for the meaning of man's long journey through war, conquest and creation - and for the great themes that can help us to understand our own era.

Contents
Preface
I. Hesitations
II. History and the Earth
III. Biology and History
IV. Race and History
V. Character and History
VI. Morals and History
VII. Religion and History
VIII. Economics and History
IX. Socialism and History
X. Government and History
XI. History and War
XII. Growth and Decay
XIII. Is Progress Real?
Bibliographical Guide
Notes
Index