# Any way to 'catch up' on general liberal arts knowledge?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-catch-up-on-general-liberal-arts-knowledge/131913
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 12, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-catch-up-on-general-liberal-arts-knowledge/131913 "2002-10-12T02:22:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2002, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-catch-up-on-general-liberal-arts-knowledge/131913/21 "2002-10-13T06:54:02Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \*
> \*\*You know, all these books are available in libraries. For free. Along with many, many others.
>
> Support libraries. \*\*
With my fine record, i paid for an extra wing of the Rock Island Public Library…
for the OP, i liked the “Don’t know much about…” series, they have geography, history (american), the civil war, and the bible. (and maybe more.)
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### Author:  [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2002, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-catch-up-on-general-liberal-arts-knowledge/131913/22 "2002-10-13T18:11:25Z")
Interestingly, when I search for “incompleat education” on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), it brings back _An Incomplete Education_ by Judy Jones and William Wilson. I assume this is the same book, but what happened to the archaic spelling?
Also, can anyone comment on Will and Ariel Durant’s _Story of Civilzation_ series? I’ve only heard of it; don’t know much about it. According to [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com)’s listings, most of the volumes are out of print.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-catch-up-on-general-liberal-arts-knowledge/131913/23 "2002-10-13T18:29:55Z")
_The Story of Civilization_ is huge. It consists of 11 thick volumes and a thin postscript called _The Lessons of History_. Reading it would be a major project.
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### Author:  [@CyberPundit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CyberPundit)
#### Post date: [October 13, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-catch-up-on-general-liberal-arts-knowledge/131913/24 "2002-10-13T18:36:16Z")
I am reading Dawn to Decadence myself and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand Barzun is really erudite and his book is filled with fascinating tidbits. OTOH his writing style is rather idiosyncratic and I am not sure the individual passages in any given chapter always come together in terms of a coherent argument. Still overall it’s very enjoyable.
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### Author:  [@Lux\_Fiat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lux_Fiat)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-way-to-catch-up-on-general-liberal-arts-knowledge/131913/25 "2002-10-14T00:37:16Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Arcite \*
> Interestingly, when I search for “incompleat education” on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com), it brings back _An Incomplete Education_ by Judy Jones and William Wilson. I assume this is the same book, but what happened to the archaic spelling?
That’s the book. The “incompleat” part was just **sven** misremembering.
It’s a great book, by the way. I have the first edition, and it’s very funny and presents lots of overviews, primers, and tidbits that I’ve found extremely useful. For me, at least, it provided basic little nucleation points of knowledge on lots of different stuff, around which a more thorough understanding could coalesce, as time’s gone on and I’ve had the opportunity to read more and different things. (Not one millionth of one percent of what I _want_ to read, of course…)
**Kyla** , I’m having an aneurysm. That the authors left a bunch of stuff out (and absolutely, the book concentrates on a Western education) doesn’t ivalidate all the stuff they put in. You can appreciate the wit of Dr. Johnson without having simultaneously to know about the 32 (or whatever) qualities of the Buddha in artistic representations, you know?
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