Will Durant

Born in Massachusetts in 1885, Will Durant became an American historian, philosopher, and popular writer who believed serious ideas should be accessible to ordinary readers. He studied at St. Peter's College and later at Columbia University, and early in his career he taught at the Ferrer Modern School in New York.

He first reached a wide audience with The Story of Philosophy (1926), a book that turned major thinkers into vivid personalities and made philosophy approachable for general readers. Durant later devoted much of his life to the huge multivolume history The Story of Civilization, written with his wife, Ariel Durant.

Together, the Durants became one of the best-known husband-and-wife writing teams in modern nonfiction. Their work earned major recognition, including the Pulitzer Prize for Rousseau and Revolution, and it remains admired for its ambition, clarity, and enthusiasm for the long human story.