让威尔·杜兰特荣获普利策奖和自由勋章奖的《世界文明史》历时四十余年写就,对杜兰特夫妇来说,这部巨作如同他们的孩子一样珍贵,而《历史的教训》就是杜兰特夫妇为这个“孩子”所写的“小传”。《世界文明史》鸿篇巨制,《历史的教训》则精炼细巧;相对于前者,后者更像一首耐人寻味的诗。在这本观点鲜明的书中,作者的一些叙述似乎“耸人听闻”。例如第三章《生物学与历史》中:“动物之间互相吞食而没有丝毫愧疚,文明人则通 For more than 40 years, Will Durant won the Pulitzer Prize and the Medal of Freedom Medal for the World Civilization. For the Durant, this masterpiece is as precious as their children, ”The lesson of history“ is the ”biography“ written by Durant for this ”child“. ”World History of Civilization,“ a grand system, ”lessons of history“ is refined and delicate; compared with the former, the latter is more like an intriguing poem. In this clear-cut book, some of the authors seem to be ”sensational.“ For example, in Chapter Three, Biology and History, ”Animals swallowed each other without any guilt, civilized individuals