I discovered Will Durant's list of the 100 "best" books for an education a few months ago now. There is a wealth of information here, about so many different things. I think that many people can benefit from reading these books in so many different ways. I wanted to create a place where people interested in reading the books could find them and get more information about the books and the list. Welcome! It's great that you are here!
I want to give as many people as possible access to this wealth of knowledge that Mr. Durant has collected for us. I wish that it was possible to have the whole list available as free eBooks, that can be downloaded at no cost, so that no one is unable to read the books because they cant afford to buy them, but at this time some of the books are still not avaialable to download for free. There are eight volumes that I could not find at this time, four of the selections are completely unavailable, and there are two that I have parts of, but not the whole selections, So 94 of the 100 selections are available to download from this site.
If you are a person that doesn't like eBooks, or prefers to hold a book in your hands while you are reading it, I can understand that, and all these books can be purchased online from used booksellers at very reasonable prices. I am not interested in selling the books, I want to make people aware of this list and allow them to read the books, at no cost. Everyone is different and has their own preferences, if you are one who wants to own a nice copy of each book, like Mr. Durant talks about in his essay on the list, I am very envious because I do not have the resources to do that at this time, but I encourage you to do that. I want everyone to find the best way, the way that is most comfortable for them, to use the List and read the books it contains.
Literature is supposed to inspire us, to excite us and teach us, to take us to places we have never been before, or may never get to go. The authors in this List have proven to be the best at doing all of those things, some have been doing so for hundreds and hundreds of years. Share some of your time with them, Mr. Durant recommends reading for one hour each day, enjoy the books they have written, learn from them, laugh with them, see the world that they lived in, or the times that are so aptly described in the works of history that are included, and enjoy yourself. Get all the pleasure and satisfaction and knowledge that you can from these great authors and their works. And have fun while you do so!
I have also stored copies of all the books that I have collected on a strage site online, and would be happy to email a link to any of the books, that you may be having trouble downloading.
I am going to list all the books and then sort them into the groups that Mr. Durant created when he made the list. I will include relevant information about the copies of the books that I have found and at some point in the future, try and add more things about the books, authors and list itself.
On the navigation bar to the left you will see buttons directing you to all the different pages on the site. There are two main sections of the site, "Books" and "The List". The "Books" pages contain onformation about each of the selections and the volumes it contains. "The List" gives more information about the actual list of books that Mr Durant created. Here you will find the order the books are to be read in and which sections of the work (if it isn't the complete work) are to be read.
Will Durant
Will Durant was a teacher, philosopher and historian. Mr Durant was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1968 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.
Mr. Durant's essay on "The One Hundred "Best" Books for an Education" which first appeared in "The American Magazine" in December of 1929 is still copyrighted. It has been reprinted in "The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time," and I do recommend reading the book and the essay to everyone who is interested in learning more about Mr. Durant himself and his list of best books. Mr. Durant is probably best known today for his book "The Story of Philosophy" and "The Story of Civilization" which was written with his wife Ariel.
Here are some links to some places on the Internet with more information about Mr. Durant.
I want to acknowledge the fine work done by Felix Lighthouse on his cloudcraft.com web-page. This was the first (and only) place where I found information about the list, when I became interested in it in October of 2008. Felix's page inspired me to look and see if I could find any more of the "Best Books" available on the Internet. I am happy to report that I have done so!
THANK YOU FELIX!
Plans for the Site
I feel, at this time, that the site is mostly complete, all the books are listed, the groups are in place that show what order to read the books and the parts that should be read at that time. This site will go through changes, I am already thinking of things to add to enhance it, and will probably never be completely finished. Just as our journey in life should never be completely finished and we should always be learning new things, changing and growing, enjoying life in this wonderful world that surrounds us. The most important thing to remember, in every aspect of your life, is to have fun, in whatever you are doing. If you can do that, life will always be a joy and a pleasure, and the people around you will be glad that you are here!
Thank you for stopping by and taking a look. I hope that you find something here that will be useful and helpful to you in your own private journey. Leave your suggestions about what you think should be added or changed and improved. I want this to be a web site that everyone benefits from.
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