Unique of its kind
The more I read of Will and Ariel Durant, the more I want to. They are, in my opinion, an act almost impossible to emulate. This title is one of the series "The Story of Civilization", like the other ten volumes that make up the set, it makes for compulsory reading - just like a thriller - and it does so in a gentle, unassuming way. The writers' style is subtly witty. I have this mental picture of the Durants, displaying an incessant twinkle in their eye as they busily spun this tale of us, for this lies far above ANY suspense novel, any fictional story.