Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West |
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Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West
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by Anthony Pagden
Sales Rank: 72471
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List Price: $35.00
$23.10
At Amazon
on 10-19-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Hard Cover with 656 pages
Published by: Random House March 25, 2008
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1400060672
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1400060672
Book Dimensions:
9.3 x 6.2 x 1.9 inches
Weighs: 2.2 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
In the pessimistic words of the ancient historian Herodotus, there will ever be perpetual enmity between the globe's two halves. Pagden (Peoples and Empires), a professor of political science and history at UCLA, tackles the immense sweep of 2,500 years of terrible blood and seeks to explain the feud's continuing existence despite the increasing erosion of national differences. Does the trouble have geographical roots, or might it stem from religious differences? Pagden is convinced that in fact East and West are separated more by values and culture than by anything else—democratic vs. authoritarian rule, secular vs. theocratic and, later, Christian vs. Muslim. Though some readers might cavil at Pagden's reductionist assertion that religion has caused more lasting harm to the human race than any other single set of beliefs, his book is an accessible and lucid exploration of the history of the East-West split, concluding with a nuanced look at the divisions and misapprehensions that continue to the present time. Fans of Jacques Barzun and Jared Diamond will be most impressed by Pagden's big picture perspective. (Mar. 4)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From AudioFile
The author looks at the causes of war and the effects of those conflicts on civilizations from the beginning of recorded history to the present. He justifies his opinion that a clash of religions has caused most of them. Narrator John Lee elevates the author's concentrated delivery of information, making this a listenable experience with his ability to modulate and emphasize his speech. Such a worldly journey presents Lee with a formidable vocabulary of foreign terms, but he remains forever fluent in all of them. His linguistic skill exemplifies how the comfort of a reader on an international sea of words can render an equivalent pleasure to the listener. Lovers of historical exploration in literature will appreciate this audiobook's happy marriage of information and presentation. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
Reader Reviews
The problems with writing a book about the 2,500-year struggle between East and West are manifold: What is East? What is West? What is the essential struggle? And since it has lasted so long, how do you get it all in one volume? UCLA historian Anthony Pagden has made an audacious effort doing just that. In Pagden's view - echoing Kipling - East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet. According to the author, the struggle between East and West can be characterized as a contest between secular, liberal democracies in the West and religious, despotic societies in the East (the East referred to being primarily the Middle East). Pagden's story begins with the Greeks and the Persians. The Greeks in the 5th century AD were a democracy and the Persians under Darius and Xerxes were a classic oriental despotism. This marked the beginning of the struggle known variously as East vs West, Europe vs Asia, secular vs the sacred, etc. The book ends with America in Iraq basically fighting the same battle that has been fought for the last 2,500 years. In this history there is no progress, there is only eternal struggle. Most people would disagree with this thesis and rightly so. This Manichean worldview seems a gross oversimplification at first glance. Greece, as well as the West as a whole, was not always liberal and secular; it had a long struggle with despotism itself and Christianity did not always see itself as separate from the state. Likewise, the East was not always illiberal and monolithically religious. Islam, for example, during its golden age in Spain was very tolerant of Christianity and Judaism. There is also much diversity within Islam today. Even though one may not agree with the author's view of the endless struggle between East and West, this book is very informative and very engaging. It tells more about the myths of East and West that inform the historical actors down through history. The so-called civilizing missions of Alexander in India, Napoleon in Egypt, Mehmed the Great in Constantinople, and Americans in Iraq are instances of one civilization trying to convince another of its superior values. Therein lies the dilemma of Pagden's project. He does not see moral equivalence, for he comes down squarely on the side of secularism and liberal values, as he should. The West, unfortunately, is not always about those things alone; it is, in the eyes of the East, also about imperialism and military conquest. The East, for its part, does not reject Western values; it rejects the West imposing those values, or rather, it wants its own version of those values. In the end we have something much more complex than a standoff between two sets of universal values. There are grey areas on both sides and their boundaries were always shifting. That being said, Worlds at War is still very good at explaining how these competing worldviews inevitably and inexorably lead to war.
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Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West
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Price: $23.10
Updated on 10-19-2008.
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