The Story of Civilization

The Story of Civilization was published by Simon & Schuster in eleven volumes between 1935 and 1975. It represents the most ambitious single-author (later two-author, as Ariel Durant was credited from volume seven onward) narrative history ever attempted in English. The scope is staggering: from the earliest civilizations of the Near East through the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, encompassing politics, economics, religion, philosophy, science, literature, music, and art across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Will Durant began the project after the success of The Story of Philosophy, convinced that philosophy could not be understood apart from its cultural context. He originally planned five volumes; the project consumed four decades and expanded to eleven. Ariel Durant, his wife and research partner from the beginning, was formally credited as co-author starting with The Age of Reason Begins (1961).

The series was a publishing phenomenon — each volume was a bestseller, and the set collectively sold millions of copies. Volume X, Rousseau and Revolution, won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968.

The Eleven Volumes

1. Our Oriental Heritage (1935) — Eastern civilizations through India, China, and Japan
2. The Life of Greece (1939) — Greek civilization from Crete to Alexander
3. Caesar and Christ (1944) — Rome and the rise of Christianity
4. The Age of Faith (1950) — Medieval civilization, Islam, Byzantium
5. The Renaissance (1953) — Italy 1304–1576
6. The Reformation (1957) — European civilization 1300–1648
7. The Age of Reason Begins (1961) — European civilization 1558–1648
8. The Age of Louis XIV (1963) — European civilization 1648–1715
9. The Age of Voltaire (1965) — European civilization 1715–1756
10. Rousseau and Revolution (1967) — European civilization 1756–1789
11. The Age of Napoleon (1975) — European civilization 1789–1815

Collecting The Story of Civilization

Complete eleven-volume sets are the standard collector’s item. Sets in matching bindings are common; first editions of individual volumes are scarcer.

Market values (complete set, first editions):

• Fine in dust jackets: $1,000–$3,000
• Very good, some wear: $300–$800
• Book club or later printings (complete set): $50–$200

Individual first editions of the early volumes (especially Our Oriental Heritage, 1935) are more valuable than later volumes when found separately.