Heroes of History

By: Will Durant

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

At Will Durant's death at 96, in 1981, his personal papers were dispersed among relatives, collectors, and archive houses. Twenty years later, scholar John Little discovered the previously unknown manuscript of Heroes of History in Durant's granddaughter's garage. Written shortly before he died, these 21 essays serve as an abbreviated version of Durant's best-selling, 11-volume series, The Story of Civilization. Durant traces the lives and ideas of those who have helped to define civilization, from Confucius to Shakespeare, from the Roman Empire to the Reformation, spanning thousands of years of human history. A volume of life-enhancing wit and wisdom, Heroes of History draws upon Durant's expansive knowledge and singular ability to translate distant events and complex ideas into easily accessible principles.©2001 John Little, Monica Ariel Mihell, and William James Durant Easton (P)2003 The Audio Partners Publishing Corp.

engaging history

I thought that the narrator did a fine job. The beginning drags a bit, but once the subject turns to the Greeks I found it became and remained very interesting. An engaging survey of some high points of history -- Durand has a gift for identifying critical moments and figures in history.

Bite-size length, Enormous information and wisdom

Will and Ariel Durant wrote The Story of Civilization. The eleven-volume, 10,000 page project took 40+ years and won a Pulitzer Prize. I’ve just re-read, Heroes of History, which was Durant’s condensation of the original into bite-sized pieces for a new generation. He died writing this book (in 1981 at the age of 96) before he could finish the last two chapters. But even unfinished, it is wonderful. Written with insight, wisdom and wit. One of my favourite quotes: “In history as in newspapers, only the names and dates change, the events are always the same”.
The narration is near perfect.

Good starter book

If this book would be your first introduction to the works of Will Durant, I will recommend it. However, if you have read his other works this one may be under whelming

should be called heroes in before Christ

If you are well versed in history before Christ until about the 1600's you will like this book. For the rest of us I had little to no idea who these people were, much less how they were heros.

as always the highlight of this book was the narration by Grover Garner. His perfect diction even with the complicated names was what kept me interested.

not a book I will ever listen to again

Heroes of History

Easily one of my favorite histories to come back to. Love the narrator, and Will Durant has such a talent to pull out the truly great people of history and the significance of their works and deeds. Thank you! 10/10