The origin, rise and legacy of Western civilization since 1500;
faith in ordering progress and destiny as 'normal' ideas for advancing preeminence of Western civilization; Near East, Judeo-Christian and Greco Roman influences, 324 pp

non-fiction, history

Did not like this as much as his history of the 20th century, nor do I think it was as well done as Barzun's From Dawn to Decadence. Having said that, it was a better than average way to kill time driving around. It was more a history from 1500 to 1988 than a work giving any really interesting conclusions. Also startling how out of date something that was published while the USSR was still in existence sounded.

The narrator was mediocre, some sort of Brit with a nasally "home counties" accent. ( )

http://nhw.livejournal.com/667484.htm...

Roberts, a well-known academic historian, was given the task of doing an update of Clarke's "Civilisation" for the BBC, and this is the book-of-the-series. The New York times found the TV version uninspiring, and I regret to say I found the same of the book. Perhaps if I'd actually read it when I was 18, and knew a lot less about history than I do now... no, I don't think so. It's surprisingly meandering, mixes complacency with hand-wringing, and not very clear on who the target audience is. ( )

In 1900, "Western" and "civilized" seemed synonymous, with Western culture spreading over the globe and bringing progress everywhere. Eighty years later, there is an uneasy feeling that Western hegemony may have shot its bolt. In this companion volume to a BBC series, a distinguished British historian looks at the development of Western culture and its universal influence. Even resistance to the West, Roberts points out, usually takes forms borrowed from Western culture. At its core, he concludes, Western civilization is an audacious championship of humans as a unique, change-making species and of the value of the individual.

J.M. Roberts uncovers what it was that gave European culture its confident energy for so many centuries while exposing its flaws and its irreversible impact on the rest of the world.

An illuminating and authoritative look at the rise of Western civilization, greatly expanded from a 13-part BBC television series. It uncovers what gave European culture its confidence and energy for so many centuries, while exposing its flaws and its irreversible impact on the rest of the world. With nearly 250 photos and maps, in both color and black-and-white.