SKU: 97289444711

How the World Made the West

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How the World Made the West592 pages hardcover An award winning Cambridge history professor makes a forceful argument and tells a story with great verve (The Wall Street Journal)that the West is, and always has been, truly global. Those archaic Western Civ classes so many of us took in college should be updated, argues Quinn, [who] invites us to . . . revel in a richer, more polyglot inheritance.The Boston Globe AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR LONGLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL

592 pages | hardcover

 

An award-winning Cambridge history professor “makes a forceful argument and tells a story with great verve” (The Wall Street Journal)—that the West is, and always has been, truly global.


“Those archaic ‘Western Civ’ classes so many of us took in college should be updated, argues Quinn, [who] invites us to . . . revel in a richer, more polyglot inheritance.”—The Boston Globe


AN ECONOMIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • LONGLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE


In How the World Made the West, Josephine Quinn poses perhaps the most significant challenge ever to the “civilizational thinking” regarding the origins of Western culture—that is, the idea that civilizations arose separately and distinctly from one another. Rather, she locates the roots of the modern West in everything from the law codes of Babylon, Assyrian irrigation, and the Phoenician art of sail to Indian literature, Arabic scholarship, and the metalworking riders of the Steppe, to name just a few examples.


According to Quinn, reducing the backstory of the modern West to a narrative that focuses on Greece and Rome impoverishes our view of the past. This understanding of history would have made no sense to the ancient Greeks and Romans themselves, who understood and discussed their own connections to and borrowings from others. They consistently presented their own culture as the result of contact and exchange. Quinn builds on the writings they left behind with rich analyses of other ancient literary sources like the epic of Gilgamesh, holy texts, and newly discovered records revealing details of everyday life. A work of breathtaking scholarship, How the World Made the West also draws on the material culture of the times in art and artifacts as well as findings from the latest scientific advances in carbon dating and human genetics to thoroughly debunk the myth of the modern West as a self-made miracle.


In lively prose and with bracing clarity, as well as through vivid maps and color illustrations, How the World Made the West challenges the stories the West continues to tell about itself. It redefines our understanding of the Western self and civilization in the cosmopolitan world of today.

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SKU: 97289444711

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Diane M. Bazail, MAT., M.Div.
Phoenix, US
★★★★★ 5
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Format: Paperback
Great explanation on how rainbows are formed. 👍
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Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2024
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Ruby A. Junkersfeld
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
Loved it...
Format: Paperback
I love this book & I bought several to use as gifts. I feel like I know the caricatures. Great buy.
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Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2017
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Helen Toevs
Boise, US
★★★★★ 5
Raindrops
Format: Paperback
A fun way to know about rainbows.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2019
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Elizabeth C. Olliff
Port Orchard, US
★★★★★ 1
Amateur
Format: Paperback
Lame art and bad prose. This amateur effort deceived my by one good review. Writing this review to tell you not to waste your money.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2019
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Shannon B.
Houston, US
★★★★★ 5
Better then the competitors
Size: Medium Size
I bought these in both small and medium size. The small bag fits the Kitsch solid hair soap perfectly. They also fit a bar of Dove soap. Some types of soap, like Zest, are a tighter fit bit still work. If you want more of a washcloth style with extra suds, use the medium bag. The medium bag works well with those large bars of soap, like Duke Cannon Big Brick of soap. I hand these off little hooks in my shower so the bag dry faster and so I appreciate the loop they have on the corner. The folding top works way better then a drawstring. I also love the exfoliating texture. Overall, these are well worth the price.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2026

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