Heroes of History

By: Will Durant

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Accurate.

I am not a professional historian but I have read more than my fair share about the founders and their faith. This book is by far the most accurate. I finished this book and almost immediately started it again and there are not too many books that I can say that about.

Excellent content with an excellent narrator

This book, like I have found all of Will and Ann Durant’s work to be, is full of information, intellect, brilliance, humor, excellence of observation, humility, insight, and knowledge. This covers a fascinating time in history through a beautiful cause/effect lens, while leaving room for the reader to make their own observations. Grover Gardner is an artist, and it is almost as though Durant wrote anticipating Gardner’s masterful execution.

A great book.

Will Durants words, read by Grover Gardner, are like music to my ears. Even learning about the horrors of the Inquisition seems more palatable when heard through Gardner’s voice.

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

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

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

For the love of history

No one loves history more than Will Durant. And arguably, no one writes more eloquently or vividly about history than he does.
It's hard to convey the superlative experience of listening to an audiobook written by Will Durant and narrated by Grover Gardner. History is revealed in the characters, while insights are gained through the analysis of significant events and those who witnessed them.
Durant's writing is transcendent—his use of language triumphant.
As for Grover Gardner—he has no equal in the reading of historical prose. With his narration, stories come to reality, and characters come to life.
This is a wonderful book.

pithy and interesting.

this book is exactly what the title suggests. will Durant has an exceptional ability to Explorer the more psychological aspects of the great people of History.