Our Oriental Heritage

The Story of Civilization, Volume 1

By: Will Durant

Narrated by: Robin Field

Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia. In this masterful work, readers will encounter:

• Sumeria, birthplace of the first cities and written laws
• the Egyptians, who perfected monumental architecture, medicine, and mummification more than 3,500 years ago
• the Babylonians, who developed astronomy and physics, and planted the seeds of Western mythology
• the Judeans, who preserved their culture forever in the immortal books of the Old Testament
• the Persians, who ruled the largest empire in recorded history before Rome
• Indian philosophy, Chinese philosophers, and Japanese Samurais

©2013 Will Durant (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Most Informative. read Sophie's World first.

Read Sophie's World before you read this. Not related at all, but that book is kind of a entry into the world of philosophy and it's connection mankind, and the thought process you should be having before you read this kind of book. For sure this is not for starters but the way the author wrote, (and narrator read), absolutely amazing and easy to understand, and as always you should be taking this with a grain of salt. Ask yourself how did the ancient people think and maybe you can live through the centuries with your sheer thought power. This books helps you do your daily chores much better, it did for me. Ciao.

Interesting perspective

Having been written in the 30s before WWII and Mr Durant's ideas about the possibilities of Japan and China and knowing what is in store in the future is interesting.

I'm not as interested in the art history as maybe I should be. I found the political aspects of early civilization the most interesting.

I learned a lot about early civilization. A great start to a great series.

I recommend it very highly.

Wonderful Historical Summary

A must read book . Thoughly entertaining. A masterpiece in its synthesis of much history across such a broad swath of topical categories in each civilization addressed. Durant has an uncanny ability to relate things that happen in one culture to similar events or characteristics in others. I loved the way he uses writings of the times to describe or point out what was happening. Not much has changed about the nature of man as a human being. Sure technology and knowledge have changed but the nature of of man remains locked in a vise of.egotism. conquest, subjugation, greed. power, and empire building. Of particular note was the degree of ruthlessness and cruelty exhibited across cultures and time. Not much progress on civility has actually been accomplished over the ages.

First of 11 Exceptional History Books

Excellent start to the Story of Civilization series. The Durants provide an “integrated” history, which looks across several avenues: political, warfare, culture (art, literature, poetry), language, technology, etc. In this volume, his objective review of the Bible is my favorite. Narrator is so-so, not the same one as the other volumes.

Amazing

Will Durant just keeps getting better with every reading. What an incredible telling of the foundations of what we now call the Middle East and Asia.

Epic

An epic deep dive into the ancient civilizations of the east from Egypt to Japan. Covers historical chronology, technology, lifestyles, theologies, occupations, customs, art and architecture, literature, government, and so much more. If you want one sweeping work that covers 4,000 years of history across the continent of Asia- this is the book. Pace of the narration is perfect at 1.2x in my opinion.

Pre-WWII View of the World

Fascinating - insightful - out of step with today’s “political correctness” but don’t let that hold you back from appreciating it’s worth.

The reader, as too often happens, mangles words, showing lack of understanding. Most annoying to me was mispronunciation of “impious,” making it seem a word related to imps rather than to piety. Sigh….

Ignore the flaws. It is worth the listen.

Living, Breathing History

Two caveats. This first volume was written in the 1930’s so some of its information is inevitably dated. Secondly, this book is really more about giving the Eastern context necessary for understanding Western civilization than a comprehensive guide to Eastern civilization.

That being said, it is a beautifully written history, alive with detail, with generous amounts of quoted literature giving the testimony and mindset of the people who lived through these times. One thing I like about Durant’s approach is that while he is always lively and opinionated, he doesn’t create strawmen. He is always sure to present the best case for differing points of view. It would be nice to see more of that quality in these polarized times.

This was thoroughly enjoyable to listen to.

From Origin to Industrial Revolution

I imagine this volume had to be the most difficult for Will Durant to produce because of its timeline. He begins his work brilliantly by explaining mankind's apparent need for familial safety and how a family grew to a tribe, from a tribe to a village, village to city, city to state, state to nation, etc. As more people join a culture, though, tasks can be distributed evenly among the citizens, giving some folks a leisurely time to create what came to be known as art or science and, since they were the possessors of such beautiful things, they came to be set at a higher standard, creating caste systems and such cultural labels that are still seen today.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the role of women and how they were the rulers of their families in ancient (or, as Durant calls them, Oriental) days but, with the evolution of castes and religion, they came to be thought of as property (especially in the last century which is a time he called Occidental.)

Robin Field is an amazing narrator with no misunderstanding of sentence structure or diction. I understood him quite clearly and his telling of quotes and notes was fantastic! I can already tell that I'm going to very much enjoy these volumes by Will Durant as well as anything else Robin Field narrates in the future! This book is a prized possession!

Civilization

I enjoyed the big picture presented with clarity.
I got engaged to the book. suddenly, the book was over. I love this book.