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Will Durant, author portrait
Photo:Bill Murphy, Los Angeles Times·CC BY 4.0·
Commons

Will Durant

American
1885 – 1981
William James Durant was an American historian and philosopher, best known for his eleven-volume work, The Story of Civilization, which contains and details the history of Eastern and Western civilizations. It was written in collaboration with his wife, Ariel Durant, and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy (1926), described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy".
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed The Story of Philosophy.
1
Books Reviewed
Cover of The Story of Philosophy: Lives, Ideas
The Story of Philosophy: Lives, Ideas

4.2/5

reader rating · 107 ratings

Will Durant's The Story of Philosophy, first published in 1926 and revised in 1933, remains one of the most enduring popular introductions to Western philosophy, profiling thinkers from Plato and Aristotle through Nietzsche, Bergson, Russell, and Dewey — tracing not just their ideas but the lives and historical conditions that shaped them. The edition under review (ASIN B0CLL5XDCR) is a Kindle release published by Grapevine in October 2023, co-credited to the Original Thinkers Institute. Reviewers called the work "a delight," and its place as a foundational text of accessible philosophy writing is well established — though its exclusive focus on Western, predominantly European and American thinkers is a documented limitation Durant himself acknowledged.

Reviewed Mar 20, 2026

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Authors Like Will Durant
Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell

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Russell's The History of Western Philosophy covers overlapping thinkers with a sharper analytic edge, providing another single-volume survey of the philosophical canon.
1 book reviewed
The History of Western Philosophy
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J. Gaarder

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J. Gaarder's Sophie's World covers the full arc of Western philosophy through a coming-of-age story, wrapping the intellectual journey in narrative fiction.
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Sophie's World
Alain De Botton

Alain De Botton

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Alain de Botton’s The Consolations of Philosophy shares Durant’s biographical warmth and readable approach to philosophy, profiling thinkers to make dense ideas personally useful for modern life.
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Paul Kleinman

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Paul Kleinman's Philosophy 101 covers major thinkers and concepts through bite-sized entries, exploring ethics and metaphysics without requiring a linear, chronological commitment.
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Tom Butler-Bowdon

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Tom Butler-Bowdon is a non-fiction author based in Oxford, England.

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William Irwin

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William Irwin's The Simpsons and Philosophy shares Durant's accessible tone, examining philosophical thinkers through popular culture rather than historical biography.
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