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Durant's erudite wife says their house in Great Neck, L. I., is a "factory." The great popularizer planned to work five years on The Life of Greece, cut it to four-and-a-half to get the book out before election year. First draft was written in what Durant calls "the butcher's book," a mighty ledger. He scattered no less than 2,500 source references (to some 200 sources) through the 671 pages of The Life of Greece. Along with these impressive grace notes are other devices, beginning with the price, calculated to put the stuff over with the people. Two sizes of type are employed: large type for essentials, small type for skipping (some of the best things in the book). At the end appears an absurd and appealing glossary, defining 18 non-English terms used in the text, including bourgeoisie, élan, bizarreries.
* He got a Ph. D. at Columbia.