Our Oriental Heritage (The Story of Civilization: Part I)

By Will Durant

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0000DSW4P
• Release Date: January 1954
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 1052 Pages
• Weight: 4.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A 1935 view of history

“Our Oriental Heritage” is the first volume of the eleven-volume history of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant. It is worth the five stars, yet it is dated (1935), and things change. So does the history we learn as we extrapolate the new knowledge; things will change. The basic information in Will and Ariel's book is still sound. In this volume, they cover Egypt, the Near East, India, China, and J-a-p-a-n. This is to the present day. However, you do not have time to track down all their great references to economics and morality. This book is packed with references, and if you do not watch out, you will forget to come back. In the section on "THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK", he expands on possible original purposes of the Ten Commandments. Things that Cecil B. DeMille never told you. There is a good section on Buddha, the legend, and his teachings. You might want to watch this movie to see how they differ. “Little Buddha” (1994). One side book to read that will cover a lot of the same ground is The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition (Vol 1), The Travels of Marco Polo: The Complete Yule-Cordier Edition (Vol 2). I know this is a short review. I intend to review the other books in this series separately. So, if I missed something in the big picture, feel free to let me know.