The Age of Louis XIV (The Story of Civilization, 8) Audio CD – CD, March 15, 2015

Let's face it, just about anything by Will Durant rates five stars with me, but this is a particularly delightful romp through European history. A bit shorter than some of the other volumes in this series, it still has considerable heft, and Durant's penchant for not slighting intellectual and cultural history in favor of political and military history is one of the chief aspects of his books that rescues them from academic dreariness...that and his colorful, witty writing style. Above all, Durant is not interested in institutions, organizations, structures, and other such abstract invitations to dullness; he is interested in people, and every major figure in history has a story to tell. His histories are basically composite biographies of the leading individuals of the periods he covers, and they are superb portraits of distinct eras of western civilization. I highly recommend this book even if you don't care to read all the books in the series or read them in order. A great read!

I had this in hardback and added the Kindle version to make reading this tome in bed a little easier. The Durants were great wordsmiths and proved capable of summarizing and highlighting great historical periods. I've been reading the series. I read one a year. More than that and nothing else gets read. I have a stack of books to tackle now that I just finished this volume. This volume is more about emerging philosophies and changing attitudes about religion. Some of the others are endless roles of princes killing kings. The Durants write some great sentences summarizing complicated topics in a few words. Sometimes I laugh; sometimes I just ponder that thought for a day.

Will and Ariel Durant's eleven volume story is without a doubt the most engaging and scrumptious reads of all time! You dont just read their works, you feast on them. I have made it a life goal to read all 11 volumes before I die. So far have totally enjoyed four of them. You dont even realize your reading about the subjects at hand but feel like you are there meeting all the players in person. Highly recommend this series to anyone..

Although I'm still reading this book, I can highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning not only about Louis XIV, but what was also going on in the rest of Europe at that time. They take you into the politics of England and what happened with the beheading of the king, Civil war and events thereafter and wars between Holland. It's easy to read, albeit lengthy, but well written.

Every book by the Durants is a pleasure to read. Well informed, well written and entertaining.

Will Durant has always been one of my favorites - all his books are great reads. I highly recommend all his writings.

I loved this books as a child, and find them nice to reread. I found that the writing style was easy for me to read, and I wasn't as bored as when I was in class. Some of the things in them don't agree with current ideas, but in a way that makes them charming.

This entire series is the height of historical writing,