The Age of Faith
Potpourri
by .Simon & Schuster, $7.50.
The massive fourth volume of Mr. Durant’s ambitious “story of civilization” is “A History of Medieval Civilization — Christian, Islamic, and Judaic — from Constantine to Dante; A.D. 3251300.” The author covers a stunning amount of ground with stunning inclusiveness, and that, inevitably, involves simplifications and snap judgments. But as a history for the general reader, this is certainly a top-notch job — vividly written, learned, and full of sense and spirit. Without being a cynic or a hard-bitten materialist, Mr. Durant is free from “the bump of reverence,” which has lately caused some idealization of the Age of Faith. He writes about its spiritual ideas with admiration and about its art with enthusiasm, but he keeps in proper perspective “the superstition, the squalor, the petty wars and monstrous crimes.”