So the Durants embarked on an encyclopedic survey of all civilization, ancient and modern, Occidental and Oriental. The books: Our Oriental Heritage (Volume 1): Will Durant opens his massive survey of civilized history with a sweeping look at the Orient: the Egyptians, who perfected monumental architecture, medicine and mummification; the Babylonians, who developed astronomy and physics; the Judeans, who preserved their culture in the immortal books of the Old Testament; and the Persians, who ruled the largest empire in recorded history before Rome.The Life of Greece (Volume 2): Will Durant's survey of ancient Greece shows us the origins of democracy and the political legacy to the Western world; the golden age of Athens, its architecture, poetry, drama, sculpture and Olympic contests; the blossoming of philosophical thought amid a society still rooted in slavery and barbarism; and the mysterious lost island of Crete, land of the Minotaur and the Labyrinth. Caesar and Christ (Volume 3): Spanning a millenium in Roman history, the third volume in the Durants' series shows us a world-conquering Roman army, undefeated, unafraid and...vegeterian; Hannibal, who transported an army of elephants over the Alps to invade Rome; Julius Caesar, who brought Western Europe under Roman rule; the life and Passion of Christ; and the struggle of the rising church. The Age of Faith (Volume 4): Over 1,000 years, we meet the Christian ascetics and martyrs, including Simeon Stylites, who sat atop a pillar for 30 years, exposed to rain, sun, and snow, and rejoiced as worms ate his rotting flesh; the saints, including Augustine, the most influential philosopher of his age; Mohammed, the desert merchant who founded a religion that conquered one-third of the known world in two centuries; and the Italian poet Dante, whose sensibility marks the transition to the Renaissance. The Renaissance (Volume 5): In this volume, Will Durant examines the economic seeds -- the growth of industry, the rise of banking families, the conflicts of labor and capital -- for Italy's emergence as the first nation to feel the awakening of the modern mind. He follows the cultural flowering from Florence to Milan to Verona and eventually to Rome, allowing us to witness a colorful pageant of princes, queens, poets, painters, sculptors and architects. We see humanity moved boldly from a finite world to an infinite one. The Reformation (Volume 6): In Europe's tumultuous emergence from the Middle Ages, we encounter two rival popes fighting for control of a corrupt, cynical church; the Hundred Years' War and 13-year-old warrior Joan of Arc; Christopher Columbus' accidental discovery of the New World; and Martin Luther, who defied the pope and ultimately led Northern Europe into the age of individualism. The Age of Reason Begins (Volume 7): In one of Europe's most turbulent centuries, Philip II of Spain sees his "invincible" armada suffer defeat at the hands of England; Elizabeth I of England receives assistance from explorer Walter Raleigh and pirate Francis Drake; and new appeals for reason and science are exemplified in the ideas of Copernicus, Galileo and Descartes. The Age of Louis XIV (Volume 8): This installment is the biography of a period some consider the apex of modern European civilization. "Some centuries hence," Frederick the Great predicted to Voltaire, "they will translate the good authors of the time of Louis XIV as we translate those of the age of Pericles or Augustus." Those authors are lovingly treated here: Pascal and Fenelon, Racine and Boileau, Mme. de Sevigne and Mme. de La Fayette, and, above all, the philosopher-dramatist Moliere, exposing the vices and hypocrisies of the age. The Age of Voltaire (Volume 9): A biography of a great man and the period he embodied. We witness Voltaire's satiric work in the salons and the theater as well as his banishment to England. With him we view the complex relationships between nobility, clergy, bourgeoisie and peasantry in the France of Louis XV. We explore the music of Bach and the struggle between Frederick the Great and Maria Theresa of Austria. And finally we hear an imaginary discussion between Voltaire and Pope Benedict XIV on the significance and value of religion. Rousseau and Revolution (Volume 10): This volume ranges over a Europe in ferment, but centers on the passionate rebel-philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who contended with Voltaire for the mind of Europe. Rousseau condemned civilization as a disease, glorified the noble savage, proclaimed to the world with equal intensity his own love affairs and the natural rights of man, and became the patron saint of the French Revolution and social upheavals across the globe for two centuries. The Age of Napoleon (Volume 11): The final volume. Napoleon is the archetypical hero, whose restless, ambitious, and intelligent mind dominated his age and has never ceased to fascinate the world he helped fashion. Yet even Bonaparte is dwarfed by the age that took his name. For, the Durants have re-created the life, the history, the arts, the science, the politics, the philosophy, the manners and the morality, the very spirit of the turbulent epoch that began with the French Revolution, ended with the fall of the emperor and ushered in the modern world.

    to 1453 A.D. During this time, its fortunes have waxed and waned; it has celebrated great triumphs and suffered the basest defeats, defeated the strongest powers of the time and been overrun mere years later. To the historian, a subject of intense interest then, a history of which could only be brought together in the most illustrious of ways, through strenuous research and meticulous compilation. The first Volume of A.A. Vasiliev?s ?History of the Byzantine Empire? has been achieved thus. This History was originally published in Russia, and accordingly in Russian. It was first released in 1917, without the footnotes that make it such a complete study in the revised version. Vasiliev continued to update and revise his history, publishing versions in French, Spanish, Turkish and English, until the revised issue being now reviewed was released in 1952. Since then, the history has not been changed, except (according to the publisher of the book) for the correction of typographical errors. Spanning the history of the Byzantine Empire from 324 A.D. to the beginnings of the Empire?s period of decline after the Battle of Manzikert and the rise of the Comneneid Dynasty, this first volume painstakingly and efficiently accounts for the many events of the Byzantine history; from religious issues to biographies of Emperors, from political and social developments to literature, learning, education and arts. The book is begun with an actual introduction by Mr Vasiliev himself, accounting for the evolution of his history. The history begins with the study of Byzantium, eruditely summarizing the study of Byzantium in Western scholarship. It continues to include the study of the Byzantines in Russia in the modern day. Russia indeed can be said to have gained much of its culture from the Byzantines, which makes it rather appropriate that Russian study accounts should be included. Vasiliev goes on to comprise many other sources which he himself has referred to or that he recommends to those interested in the history of Byzantium should research. The history itself begins with Constantine and Christianity; going to include the changes of religion in the Byzantine Empire and the beginning troubles with the Church and Papacy in Rome. His and Diocletian?s reforms are succinctly recorded, and an extremely detailed line of Emperors and the Byzantine society up until the sixth century follow. The amazing depth of knowledge can already be grasped at its overwhelming size, and these are only the first two comprehensive chapters! The first Volume continues to deeply consider the amazing history of this longevous Empire; through the time of Justin and his amazing successor, Justinian I and their immediate successors, to the ?Heraclian Epoch?, the ?Iconoclastic Epoch? and the ?Macedonian Epoch?, all of which are separate chapters, deeply detailed, referenced and analysed. Footnotes adorn each page, providing a further wealth of detail. Throughout the volume, the political, social and religious developments are considered, the notable Emperors discussed and the literature and arts canvassed, providing a magnificently comprehensive picture of the Byzantine era. A light read it is not; it takes dedication and resolve to continue to read; but once the reader has immersed him or herself in this rich history, they will never wish to stop, and as a book for references or random information on the Byzantines, it has few equals. Vasiliev has created a volume that is virtually impossible to surpass for sheer detail and interest. For those who have an interest in the Byzantine history, this book should be a bible, as I myself have read few books that could equal this one in the provision of information. Truly, a masterpiece of in-depth history and culture; to be read and admired by all whose interest leads them down the path of the amazing Byzantines.

    A classic survey of Roman history, art, economic life, and religion through Constantine's rise to power.

    80-20 BCE, wrote forty books of world history, called "Library of History, " in three parts: mythical history of peoples, non-Greek and Greek, to the Trojan War; history to Alexander's death (323 BCE); history to 54 BCE. Of this we have complete Books I-V (Egyptians, Assyrians, Ethiopians, Greeks) and Books XI-XX (Greek history 480-302 BCE); and fragments of the rest. He was an uncritical compiler, but used good sources and reproduced them faithfully. He is valuable for details unrecorded elsewhere, and as evidence for works now lost, especially writings of Ephorus, Apollodorus, Agatharchides, Philistus, and Timaeus.The Loeb Classical Library edition of Diodorus Siculus is in twelve volumes.