About the Authors
Will Durant (1885–1981) was an award-winning American writer, historian, and philosopher. He and his wife were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1968 for Rousseau and Revolution, and he was a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Durant spent over forty years writing the critically acclaimed eleven-volume Story of Civilization, the later volumes with the help of his wife, Ariel. He sought
to revitalize history by unifying and humanizing the great body of historical
knowledge, which had become voluminous and fragmented into esoteric
subcategories. He also strove to bring
philosophy to the common man. Durant was a champion of human rights, social reform, and the brotherhood of man long before they became well-known issues.
Ariel Durant (1898–1981) was a Russian-born American researcher and
writer and the coauthor of the eleven-volume Story of Civilization with her husband Will
Durant. Ariel and Will Durant were jointly awarded the Pulitzer Prize for
General Nonfiction in 1968 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977. Ariel
was named the 1977 Woman of the Year by the city of Los Angeles.
About Grover Gardner
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.