The first volume of this engaging survey covers Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Voltaire, and Rousseau. As well as offering historical context and a cogent explanation for each school of thought, Durant provides biographical...

From German idealism to American pragmatism, Volume Two examines the lives and ideas of Kant, Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, Nietzsche, Henri Bergson, Benedetto Croce, Bertrand Russell, George Santayana, William James, and John Dewey....

[This] is a modest, balanced and helpful statement of the beliefs and values that have resulted from the Durants' immersion in historical investigation these many years. Here are their fair-mindedness, their respect for human dignity,...