“To those of us who study history not merely as a warning reminder of man’s folies and crimes, but also as an encouraging remembrance of generative souls, the past ceases to be a depressing chamber of horrors; it becomes a celestial city, a spacious country of the mind, wherein [thousands]…still live and speak, teach and carve and sing.” – Will & Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History
I have written often on the importance of studying history, and Will & Ariel Durant’s short The Lessons of History is an attempt to distill such ideas. It also serves as a postlude to their massive, eleven volume, The Story of Civilization. In Lessons, the writers take a broad overview of history, focusing on ten topics, and what history can teach us. Here I will review three of the major themes from The Lessons of History.
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Darrick Dean 