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The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time
- Narrated by: John Little
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Categories: Politics & Social Sciences, Philosophy
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Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
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An excellent read, to be digested and reread
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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.
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Logical and smooth
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Overall
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An excellent read, to be digested and reread
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Overall
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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.
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Salman Rushdie
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Joining us in the Audible Studios to talk about his 13th novel, The Golden House, is critically acclaimed British-Indian novelist and writer Sir Salman Rushdie. Born in Bombay, British India, Salman Rushdie has become literary nobility, lauded for his ability to combine magical realism with historical fiction, focusing on the connections between Eastern and Western civilisations.
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Master English with Learn English - Word Power 101. This audiobook is a completely new way to learn English vocabulary fast - and for free! Start speaking English in minutes with the powerful learning methods you will master in this book. The vocabulary words you'll find in Learn English - Word Power 101 were hand selected by our English language teachers as the top 101 most frequently used words in the English language.
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basic english
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Publisher's Summary
Critic Reviews
"This compact work is a gem that elevates historical writing to the level of superb literature." (Booklist)
"[An] engaging, accessible book of essays...in prose peppered with biographical bon mots and excerpts of the world's loveliest poems. Lay folks especially will find this a delightful introduction to Durant's irrepressible style." (Publishers Weekly)
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What listeners say about The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anjana Kovoor
- 26-02-19
A great overview of Civilizatiion
The book is biased towards history of the Americas and Europe but yet done in a very engaging anf interesting way
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- Arthur Pendragon
- 07-02-16
Great Summary
If you could sum up The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time in three words, what would they be?
Overview. Fascinating. Inspiring.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time?
The entire book was exceptional.
Which character – as performed by John Little – was your favorite?
Too difficult to choose.
Any additional comments?
This book is supposed to be an overview, so the reviews that criticize this book as being "too fast" do not seem to be taking in to account the very objective of this book in that it is meant to be a summary. This book is well worth the read, as are the other books by Will Durant. I highly recommend them.
10 people found this helpful
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- Knott Now
- 10-03-15
A "Greatest Hits" of History
This was my introduction to Will Durant. The writing is spectacular. The language at times is almost poetic and I felt the speed at which the text was read was a bit fast. It is short but meaty. I highly recommend it; you will find yourself skipping back a few times to fully enjoy the prose.
5 people found this helpful
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- Milton
- 22-06-12
Kinda like Wagner " not as bad as it sounds"
I bought this dispite the negative reviews. I am a total Durant fan. Read the History of the World, Yup that one.The first bit is great and engrossing, 100 greatest books does not make a great read. This might be better in hardcover. But have been through it twice and will plunge in again. I prefer books good for read after read, this qualifies , but you better like Durant.
11 people found this helpful
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- Ted
- 25-03-06
Too Fast
Whilst the content was interesting, the narrator read way too fast. I could not absorb much of the content. As a result I did not enjoy the book. This is the first time I have had this issue with audio books. From now on I will always listen to sample before purchase.
27 people found this helpful
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- Temisan
- 20-02-16
Mind changing
Really enjoyed it, Loved it, would listen to it again when i habe the chance to, will definitely recommend it to a friend
2 people found this helpful
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- Randall Key
- 05-07-07
He can do better!
Many on the list are antiquated. And the lists are read as quickly as the reasons for his choice. In some categories it's like hearing a hone book read. Durant does better on his history of the philosophers. In this book He leaves out all of the religious leaders on a purpose that I don't understand. Most of which held more sway, good and bad, than any of the others on a list. I'll order another from Durant just because he has been so good in the past. But I could have skipped this one and not lost sleep.
16 people found this helpful
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- Ray
- 08-08-15
INDIGESTIBLE
Too much to digest at the reader's pace. Some interesting ideas, but not worth the time.
3 people found this helpful
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- Douglas
- 19-09-11
Incomplete
What would have made The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time better?
This is, as I understand, an incomplete work of Durant, and it is mostly a big disappointment. For the most part, it is a list of antiquated works put forth as the basis for a fundamental education. No kicks against his list, except that a lot of it was rather obvious and there is very little expansion on the whys of his picks. Begin elsewhere with Durant.
4 people found this helpful
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- James
- 06-04-04
Puzzled
We purchased this title thinking it would be thought provoking and spur conversation regarding who was/was not included in each list. It was quickly apparent that the author was not modern and did not write in a lively manner. Granted, his essays were intended to be read rather than heard, but the rambling definitions were tedious. If you are unfamiliar with this author's work (as we were), we strongly suggest that you read some of the essays before buying the audio file. Better to discover his prejudices at the local library than after spending $$ on an antiquated world view.
38 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 25-03-21
Wow, I like this book, It showed me who we are
I loved it. It is a great book. Few amazing insights I have got from the book. Now I know more about history and what is important in this. Not a self-development book, but anyway this is amazing.
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- Thomas
- 11-07-07
Poor choice of narator lets excellent title down
This titlte is another jewel from Will Durant but I can not recommend it due to the poor naration. The voice is flat and makes the book unlistenable. This has nothing to do with the sound quality and is due to the reader. I advise listening to the excellenty narated 'The Story of Philosophy' by the same author and compare prior to purchase. I will be seeking to return this title.
8 people found this helpful
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- David
- 06-07-13
Durant being Durant, not a bad thing...
Will Durant was nothing if not an unashamed elitist and his personal take on the greatest minds and figure in history are fairly well justified, though he admits himself his choice of greatest poets is somewhat personal! Some of the other choices might be considered in the same light. Well worth as listen though.
2 people found this helpful
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- citizenade
- 03-09-15
Great recommendations
Great recommendations some of them are pure gold which I will try and buy. Epic
1 person found this helpful
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- vitorino oliveira
- 13-02-20
Difficult to follow and boring
The narrator reads very fast without inflexion and emotion, no pauses either. The book is very good.
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- Andrew Dawson
- 24-11-17
Exceptionally interesting but
daunting amount I need to read now. great reference for impactful history and books that could transform your perspective of this world. I'll be using it for this
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- Anna Maria Rusanova
- 03-03-16
Brilliant!
This was an amazing book that I was happy to listen to! The narrator was doing an amazing job, as he made the experience outstanding - thank you!