Civilization: A New History of the Western World

by RogerOsborne (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $3.39

  On 21 September 2001 George W. Bush told Congress 'This is civilization's fight.' A month later he said 'I'm not moving on because we're in a fight for civilization itself.' European leaders described the 11 September attacks as 'a declaration of war against the entire civilized world' by a force 'dedicated to the destruction of civilization'. But what do we mean by civilization? We have a vague belief in a Western tradition of openness and freedom that has produced a good life for its citizens and a culture of enormous depth and creative power. But the history of our civilization is also filled with unspeakable brutality. For every Leonardo there is a Torquemada, for every Beethoven symphony a concentration camp, for every Chrysler Building a My Lai massacre. How can we come to the defence of a civilization whose benefits seem so questionable? In this ambitious and important book Roger Osborne shows that we can only understand and take comfort in our civilization by re-examining and confronting our past. The barbarity in Western history can no longer be explained away as base human brutality breaking through the restraining bonds of civilization. Instead we need to see that civilization is itself a hazardous enterprise, creating enormous challenges to humans as moral social beings - challenges that we sometimes fail. Civilization tells the story of the Western world from its origins to the present. Sweeping in its scope and comprehensive in its coverage, Civilization covers everything from the siege of Troy to the Gettysburg address, from Charlemagne to the European Union and from Aristotle to John Rawls. Filled with the voices of the past - including Herodotus, Pericles, Cicero, St Paul, Plotinus, St Augustine, Boccaccio, Machiavelli, Cervantes, Locke, Voltaire, Jefferson, Gibbon, Darwin, Marx, Weber, Roosevelt and Arendt, to name just a few - the book ends with an assessment of the present state of Western civilization in the light of its past and an indication of how it might go about the urgent task of renewing itself. At such a dangerous time in the world's history this remarkable and compelling book is required reading.

• Used

  Paperback
  2007

  $3.39

  Ever since the attacks of 11th September western leaders have described a world engaged in 'a fight for civilization.' But what do we mean by civilization? We believe in a western tradition of openness and freedom that has produced a good life for many millions of people and a culture of enormous depth and creative power. But the history of our civilization is also filled with unspeakable brutality - for every Leonardo there is a Mussolini, for every Beethoven symphony a concentration camp, for every Chrysler Building a My Lai massacre. How can we come to the defence of a civilization whose benefits seem so questionable? In this ambitious and important book Roger Osborne shows that we can only truly understand our civilization by re-examining and confronting our past, with all its glories and catastrophes. Sweeping in its scope and comprehensive in its coverage, Civilization tells the story of the western world from its origins to the present. Tying together the histories of empires, art, philosophy, science and politics, Civilization includes the crucial events and people in the history of the western world from the siege of Troy to the Gettysburg address, from Charlemagne to the European Union, from Aristotle to Einstein, and from Giotto to John Ford. Civilization is the story we tell each other in order to place ourselves in the world and to justify our actions. In the last few decades this story has, for many western citizens, become increasingly tarnished and divorced from reality. Roger Osborne, however, forges a new story of the past that is both challenging and inspiring. At such a dangerous time in the world's history, this brilliant book is required reading.