The Story Of Civilization Volume 1
Clara Vanliere
Children should not just read about history; they should live it. In The Story of Civilization (35 lessons), the ancient stories that have shaped humanity come alive like never before. Author Phillip Campbell uses his historical expertise and storytelling ability together in tandem to present the content in a fresh and thrilling way.
The Story of Civilization reflects a new emphasis in presenting the history of the world as a thrilling and compelling narrative. Within each chapter, children will encounter short stories that place them directly in the shoes of historical figures, both famous and ordinary, as they live through legendary battles and invasions, philosophical debates, the construction of architectural wonders, the discovery of new inventions and sciences, and the exploration of the world.
Volume I: The Ancient World, begins the journey, covering the time periods from the dawn of history and the early nomads to the conversion of Emperor Constantine. Children will learn what life was like in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome, and more, as well as learn the Old Testament stories of the Israelites and the coming of Christ.
Whether looking for entertainment on a long road trip, enhancing the experience with the text, or catering to the needs of a child with a reading disability, this audio dramatization will open up a new world of adventure for kids of all ages.
This test book serves as a companion resource to The Story of Civilization: The Ancient World. With this book, students can test their reading comprehension and further educate themselves on the content found in the text.
One quiz corresponds to each chapter in the textbook. Questions for each chapter are suitable as a study exercise or as an objective answer test, with an answer key for teachers in the back. The questions include matching items, multiple choice, and true/false.
In this lecture series, the author of The Story of Civilization, Phillip Campbell, leads students on a chapter-by-chapter journey, reviewing the events, characters, and lessons that make up Volume I. This companion piece to the text is meant to assist parents and allow a hands-off approach to their lesson planning.
After viewing these lectures, students will be able to turn to their workbooks and test books with confidence!
Streaming videos will be available in the "My Account" area of your TANBooks.com account. Buyers of the Complete Set will receive a card with a digital Access Code to add the videos to their account.
Keeping track of the people, events, and dates that shaped history can be difficult. With this fun, comprehensive, and engaging timeline that employs an easy-to-follow format and vibrant illustrations, students will have the help they need to track the chronology of the story of civilization.
The first six volumes of The Story of Civilization are credited to Will Durant alone, with Ariel recognized only in the acknowledgements. Beginning with The Age of Reason Begins, Ariel is credited as a co-author. In the preface to the first volume, Durant states his intention to make the series in 5 volumes, although this would not turn out to be the case.[1]
The volumes were best sellers and sold well for many years. Sets of them were frequently offered by book clubs. An unabridged audiobook production of all eleven volumes was produced by the Books on Tape company and was read by Alexander Adams (also known as Grover Gardner).[3]
One volume, Rousseau and Revolution, won the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1968. All eleven volumes were Book-of-the-Month Club selections and best-sellers with total sales of more than two million copies in nine languages.[6]
James H. Breasted's review of the first volume was highly negative.[7] W. N. Brown was hardly more impressed.[8] Henry James Forman, reviewing for The New York Times, found the first volume to be a masterpiece, as did the New York Herald Tribune.[9][10] Michael Ginsberg was favorably disposed to the second volume,[11] as was Edmund C. Richards.[12] Reviews of the second volume from Time and Boston Evening Transcript were very positive.[13][14] J.W. Swain noted in reviewing the third volume the book was written for a popular audience rather than scholars, and was successful at that.[15] A review of the third volume in Time was positive.[16] John Day published a mixed review of the third volume.[17] Ralph Bates posted a negative review of the third volume for The New Republic.[18] Sidney R. Packard, professor emeritus of history at Smith College, found the fourth volume to be quite good.[19] Norman V. Hope had a similar impression.[20] L.H. Carlson, for the Chicago Tribune, compared it to Jacob Burckhardt's works.[21] Wallace K. Ferguson published a review of the fifth volume.[22] Geoffrey Bruun published positive reviews of the fifth and sixth volumes for The New York Times.[23] Garrett Mattingly, for The Saturday Review, lambasted the sixth volume but went on to say that Durant was widely-read and a capable storyteller.[24] D. W. Brogan had a highly favorable impression of the seventh volume.[25] A review in Time of the seventh volume was positive.[26] J.H. Plumb found the eighth volume to be very poor,[27] as did Stanley Mellon.[28] Alfred J. Bingham found the ninth volume to be a "thoroughly enjoyable semi-popular history",[29] and was effusive in his praise of the tenth volume.[30][31][32] John H. Plumb was scathing in reviewing the eleventh volume.[33] Joseph I. Shulim took a similar view.[34] Alfred J. Bingham had a mixed yet favorable opinion.[35] A review in The Saturday Review of the eleventh volume was very positive.[36]
Depending on your needs, you might also consider Durant's more accessible single volume Heroes of History. There was a recent thread about it which you can read here -durants-heroes-of-history-anyone-use-what-age/?tab=comments#comment-8855105
We use the audio versions as our world history. Kids are currently 10, 9, 7, 4, and a baby. It is the only audio thing I have ever had success in including in our official schooling.
Prior to SOC, we used SOTW vol. 1, which was a complete fail here.
For us, SOC is much more interesting and much better written. Add in the fact that we are Catholic, and it just makes sense for us to use SOC. We just listen to as much or as little as we want at any given time. Also, even I enjoy listening. So it can appeal to a wide range.
Someday, I will probably invest it a timeline. But I will try and wait for a sale for those.
I just started listening to Vol 1 on Hoopla, and really enjoy it so far! We're not Catholic, but my husband was raised Catholic. We would probably throw some Protestant, "living" biographies in alongside the medieval volume if we used it.
The teacher guide has the narrations and review questions. Map activity instructions, what page to color and restates how to do the drawings. Then it has 1-2 other crafts and occasionally a snack activity. I think the crafts and food ideas in SOTW1 are better personally. But they are also more complicated and I know most others will prefer the simpler suggestions in SOC1.
OP, I am sorry you are having issues with TAN. I have ordered from them many times and never encountered problems. I hope they fix things quickly.
Also, thanks for a answering one of my questions. I'd been wondering if there were additional reading suggestions somewhere. It is disappointing to learn there aren't. That being said, I am definitely happy with the audio version (I have the CDs).
@Murphy101 That does sound frustrating! I have ordered many times from TAN, but they just updated their system (in the last few weeks, I think) and I have not ordered from them yet since then. I HAVE had the issue of getting the wrong things in my box. The first order I ever made was a copy of the Story of the Bible Old Testament and New Testament audio CDs with the teacher guide and activity book. I got: 1 copy of the Old Testament Audio CDs, TWO copies of the New testament audio CDs, the teacher guide for old testament but not for new, the test book (which I didn't order) for new testament, and the activity books. It was a mess ? I contacted them and they told me to keep the extras and they would send me the missing teacher guide, so it wasn't too bad. Just a lot of extra stuff I didn't order. The charge to my CC was right though.
Since that first order, my other ones have come through accurately. I prefer to purchase the mp3 files now for the story of civilization, then put them into folders by chapter (this takes thumbing through the book to figure out which tracks go where as they aren't labeled by chapter when you download, though they are in chronological order), and then play each chapter with our Alexa via MyPod. It's about 10 minutes of work a week to set up, but my children can now independently listen to the next chapter each week easily. You can also get the book audio on audible, but each chapter on audible IS not the same as each chapter in the book, so I had to start/stop audible each week for my kids. The mp3 files ->google drive (each chapter in a folder)->mypod playlist on alexa worked better for us. (note: mypod does have a very low monthly cost if you don't want ads, and you really don't want ads, because they are not always appropriate for kids and they also VERY OFTEN interrupt content. But they do have a free - with ads - option if anyone wants to try this route after reading my description above)
Finally, on the recommended reading... there is a Facebook group for Story of Civilization called Tan's the story of civilization homeschoolers (unofficial) which is a great resource for things like reading lists. If you check the group files there, someone in the group has already made a great reading list for each level of SoC that breaks it down by chapter. The author also posts frequently in that group.