The Story of Civilization; Volume I: A history of civilization in Egypt and the Near East to the Death of Alexander; and in India; China; and Japan from the beginning; with an introduction on the nature and foundations of civilization. This is the first volume of the classic Pulitzer Prize-winning series.
#1035965 in Books New Press; The 1997-09-01Original language:RussianPDF # 1 9.00 x .95 x 5.75l; 1.28 #File Name: 1565843983416 pages
Review
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful. The unthinkable; the unspeakable -- and the mundaneBy Eileen G.Fascinating; absorbing; upsetting and boring -- these diaries are all of the above.Soviet Russia's not replete with oral histories of the 30's (they didn't have a WPA; they had Stalin); nor with many trustworthy contemporary accounts. They're in here; though. It's heartbreaking to read of everyday annoyances and delights; and to know the fate that was soon to befall many of these diarists. "A Chronicle of the Year 1937" is almost more than I could bear. A sad and good book; well worth reading.0 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Formulaic SuccessBy Nathan Douglas HarveyKudos to authors who demurred in comment or interpretation beyond that required to move the text from one vernacular to another. Very substance of result illustrates inefficacy to render judgment over any other's existence; proof being the eclectic representation of each life portrayed.This collection of précis portrays element of personality which Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels seemingly dismissed in deference to unitary; singular goal. Collective farmer; life defined by weather condition. Ne'er do well whose tumultuous life was a study in hilarity; yet whose inner turmoil; simply expressed in common eloquence; spoke to a revolving theme of human enterprise. Dyed-in-the-wool allegiant whose peasant origin catalyzed insecurity; a force necessarily expugnable in a reformulated embrace. Bard whose suppressed expression by mandate of existence lived only in diary.My lesson learned from this reading: Communism's ideals exist personally endogenous. Government with its unending litany of futility is not the vehicle of inducement. Thank you; people of Russia and satellite attache; for that enlightenment.May I expand lesson to lesson(s)? As a necessary adjunct; communism cannot be the ubiquitous embrace of country. Bannered demarcation of domestic and foreign cannot perceive common.Your lessons will be different.Conclusively apropos; the last diary entry speaks of a dream; one whose transcendence liberated yet another object of subjugation. Bas relief remolded into bold relief; the final character; on September 6; 1953; made infinite the dream which he penned fourteen years prior. A dream which mortality had so spartanly conceived; even more astringently achieved.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. This would make a great textbookBy MeaghanAlthough I was never able to finish this; it wasn't because it was a bad book; on the contrary; it's an excellent collection that would be a worthy textbook for a Russian history course. I like how the diarists were not all famous people or anything; one; for example; was just a poor middle-aged farmer. It was just that this is hardly pleasure reading and I found I couldn't commit to the whole thing; 400+ pages of small print.
