How did we become the civilization, society, nation we take for granted?
In the opening volume of his epic survey of history, Will Durant synthesizes a lifetime of knowledge and insight into a digestible – only around 1,000 pages! – tale of human progress. Where did we come from? Why do we organize ourselves as we do? Where are we going?
Durant doesn't necessarily answer the essential questions that vex us all. But he makes a valiant effort – with grace, humor, and abiding compassion for humanity. This was my second read of Our Oriental Heritage, and after a brief respite to catch my breath, I look forward to another.
The Story of Civilization, Volume I: A history of civilization in Egypt and the Near East to the Death of Alexander, and in India, China, and Japan from the beginning; with an introduction on the nature and foundations of civilization. This is the first volume of the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning series.
In this collection of short and very short stories, the characters are anything but heroic.
They have unwanted pregnancies, alcohol and drug problems, dysfunctional romances, horrible jobs, no jobs, glorious aspirations, and inglorious resolutions. Hemmingson writes short, plain sentences reminiscent of Carver and Hemingway – but with little macho bluster and much sensitivity. The revelation of this collection is its humor.
Despite the travails detailed in each narrative, the stories are funny, sometimes hilarious, reminding the reader that life in all its imperfections is mysteriously beautiful.
Michael Hemmingson has been called “Raymond Carver on acid” by literary guru Larry McCaffery and “a disciple of a quick and dirty literature” by the American Book Review. Hemmingson writes from within the everyday man's murky nightmares, offering hints and then, dazzlingly, reneging on his hints.
Twenty years after first reading this groundbreaking book, I revisited
it with a deeper understanding of the historical framework around which
its assertions are built.
Diamond's arguments, this time around, struck
me as less abstract and theoretical and more concrete and convincing –
mostly because I had a better grasp of the ancient civilizations he
references. The main thesis – that societies with better food production
thanks to geography enjoyed a head-start on other locales – seems
incontrovertible upon further consideration.
Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse? In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, a classic of our time, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond dismantles racist theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for its broadest patterns.
The story begins 13,000 years ago, when Stone Age hunter-gatherers constituted the entire human population. Around that time, the developmental paths of human societies on different continents began to diverge greatly. Early domestication of wild plants and animals in the Fertile Crescent, China,…
The Unexpected Guest gives love profound new dimensions with its story of family, friendship, and the meaning of home. Konik offered food and a pair of pants when his new friend came by, and wondered how much he owed the troubled Fisher King―a question all of America faces with the nation's ongoing homelessness crisis. When Konik and his wife gave Fisher King Mike a place in their home, handy as he turned out to be with household projects, they witnessed a guest become a caretaker. Gone was the man drifting through life. What each never saw coming was their own transformation and the lessons they’d learn about what it means not only to be good people, but simply to be human.
