Civilisation: A Personal View

The Art history is conveniently arranged, and the illustrations are tasteful. He's not casting his definition of "Civilization" widely enough to suit me. I much prefer the twelve volume effort by Will and Ariel Durant. He believes that Civilization is best curated by a very narrow set of editors, such as himself. I don't think a view of such a narrow set of criteria defines what could be defined as a Civilization" by the human race's past history.

This is a dreadful book from an excellent TV series.
If one is producing an art book, one would be disappointed that the illustrations were all going to be black and white. When this was compounded by the decision to stick all the pictures in a block in the middle of the book, then one raises the white flag meekly: but wait, there's just one more twist of the knife, the original TV script is not going to be changed for the new literary format.
Oh dear!

Excellent. Only four stars because this is a book of a miniseries of programs and a little, not much, is lost in change of medium. Well illustrated. Clark writes well and with conviction about the progress of western civiliztion as illustrated through art.

An amazingly avuncular walk through western culture. Something to turn to on a winters day when you have flu.

Ha Ha! In 1999 I wrote about this book: "Chapter 1 and I am already offended! Clark is so dated! What small mind wrote,about, "the negro imagination," that created the African mask, or about "the late antique world, full of meaninless rituals, mystery religious, that destroyed self-confidence." *** I went on to discover "stuff I liked," and I made a few notes. but I clearly did not complete this book. I don't think I ever even saw the companion television show. I know Clark remains a big name in social sciences, so perhaps I will see what he did in later years.

Tweedy, plummy, erudite but easy to read. Excellent.

Great dialog on art...good timelines...