The Lessons of History

I actually finished this book last Monday, but was having internet issues at the time.

It’s The Lessons of History, by Will and Ariel Durant.

This is the first book on the list that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy.  I think the biggest problem is that this book is a book of conclusions based on what he has learned studying history, but it doesn’t include many of the facts- it provides a very basic idea of the history, and then jumps to the conclusions.

My problem with that is I know a LOT about history- I’ve been studying western History much more extensively than most laymen, so I have lots of counter examples.

Even more problematic, an entirely new school of thought for studying human action was invented about 70 years ago- it’s called the Austrian School of Thought, and it leads to radically different conclusions to the same facts.  Will Durant, unfortunately, was writing before and during that revolution, and so gets completely different conclusions.

I do think parts of this book could be very useful for a person with very little historical knowledge, but I can’t recommend it to those who are well versed in history.