Fallen Leaves: Last Words on Life, Love, War & God

Publisher Marketing: The final and most personal work from Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian Will Durant discovered thirty-two years after his death is a message of insight for everyone who has sought meaning in life or the council of a wise friend in navigating life s journey. From 1968 to 1978, Will Durant made four public allusions to the existence of "Fallen Leaves." One, in 1975, hinted at its contents: a not very serious book that answers the questions of what I think about government, life, death, and God. And in 1975: I propose to answer all the important questions, simply, fairly, and imperfectly. Even into his nineties, he worked on the book daily, writing it out on legal notepads. Upon his death in 1981, no one, not even the Durant heirs, knew if he had completed it, or even if it still existed. Thirty-two years later, in a granddaughter s attic trunk, the manuscript was discovered."Fallen Leaves "is Will Durant s most personal book. It is precisely as he described: twenty-two short chapters on everything from youth and old age, religion and morals, to sex, war, politics, and art. The culmination of Durant s sixty-plus years spent researching the philosophies, religions, arts, sciences, and civilizations from across the world, "Fallen Leaves" is the distilled wisdom of a gifted scholar with a renowned talent for rendering the insights of the past accessible. In its preface Durant mentions that over the course of his career he received letters from curious readers who have challenged me to speak "my mind" on the timeless questions of human life and fate. With "Fallen Leaves "he accepted their challenge. It contains strong opinions, elegant prose, and deep insights into the human condition as only Will Durant could provide, as well as his revealing conclusions about the perennial problems and greatest joys we face as a species." Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 09/29/2014 (EAN 9781476771540, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews 10/15/2014 (EAN 9781476771540, Hardcover) Library Journal 11/15/2014 pg. 87 (EAN 9781476771540, Hardcover) Booklist 11/15/2014 pg. 4 (EAN 9781476771540, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Durant, Will Will Durant (1885-1981) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize (1968) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1977). He spent more than fifty years writing his critically acclaimed eleven-volume series, The Story of Civilization" (the later volumes written in conjunction with his wife, Ariel). A champion of human rights issues, such as the brotherhood of man and social reform, long before such issues were popular, Durant's writing still educates and entertains readers around the world.