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Description
Ancient Greece and Rome have long been considered the parents of Western civilisation. But the ancient world was a very wide one, of conversation, commerce and theft, sex, war and enslavement. It was this restless global contact that built the West.
Why did Macedonian generals steal elephants from India to rule new realms? How did the lewd graffiti left by foreign workers in Egypt form the basis of the alphabet? In a voyage through space and time, from the Levant of 2000 BC to the dawn of the Age of Exploration, Josephine Quinn rewrites the story of the West – and in doing so, offers us a new history of our shared past.
'A truly encyclopaedic and monumental account of the ancient world' The Times
'Full of little gem-likes shifts of perspective' Guardian
'Scintillates with its focus on the unexpected' Economist
'A work of great confidence, empathy, learning and imagination' Rory Stewart
'This is, in every way, a big book' TLS
Product details
| Published | 29 Jul 2025 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 576 |
| ISBN | 9781526605221 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Publishing |
| Dimensions | 198 x 129 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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A revelatory account of how the ancient world was much wider and more interconnected than traditionally thought - and the lessons that holds for today
What to Read in 2024, Financial Times
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Astounding . . . Both erudite and witty, sweeping and granular, this book is revisionist history at its best
i-news
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Quinn keeps the revelations coming at a fair lick . . . In 400 crisp pages, 30 societies are paraded before us with comparative reflection and world-weary wit. Better still, Quinn's book is polemical
Pratinav Anil, The Times
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One of the most fascinating and important works of global history to appear for many years
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
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Bold, beautifully written and filled with insights, How the World Made the West demands that we challenge traditional views of the past. An extraordinary achievement
PETER FRANKOPAN
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How the World Made the West has plenty of myths about the ancient world to dispel . . . The vicissitudes in each centre's fortunes make for a dynamic narrative, as cities that were once great are swept away, and new ones spring up in their wake
Daisy Dunn, Telegraph





















