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Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West Audiobook
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(3.08) - 169 listener ratings
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In the tradition of Jared Diamond and Jacques Barzun, prize-winning historian Anthony Pagden presents a sweeping history of the long struggle between East and West, from the Greeks to the present day.
The relationship between East and West has always been one of turmoil. In this historical tour de force, a renowned historian leads us from the world of classical antiquity, through the Dark Ages, to the Crusades, Europe's resurgence, and the dominance of the Ottoman Empire, which almost shattered Europe entirely. Pagden travels from Napoleon in Egypt to Europe's carving up of the finally moribund Ottomans—creating the modern Middle East along the way—and on to the present struggles in Iraq.
Throughout we learn a tremendous amount about what "East" and "West" were and are, and how it has always been competing worldviews and psychologies, more than religion or power grabs, that have fed the mistrust and violence between East and West. In Pagden's dark but provocative view, this struggle cannot help but go on.
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"Any student of history will be fascinated by this historical account of the roots of the conflict in the Middle East that can be traced back to the earliest times of the Persian conquest of Greece, and how that set the stage for the turmoil that has continued on to present times."
— John (5 out of 5 stars)
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“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.”
— Publishers Weekly -
[Narrator John Lee's] linguistic skill exemplifies how the comfort of a reader on an international sea of words can render an equivalent pleasure to the listener.... [A] happy marriage of information and presentation.
— AudioFile -
“Inquisitive and incisive about the sweep of history, Pagden will connect with readers wanting to deepen their grasp of contemporary news.”
— Booklist
Worlds at War Listener Reviews
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" Very informative and relative to current events but takes a big commentment to read. I needed to have Encyclopedic World Atlas, dictionary and Wikipedia on hand constantly but glad to have read it. "
— Ronn, 2/7/2014 -
" A very disappointing book. The contents are a much smarter and more nuanced standard of clash of civilizations type: the West, which is, for whatever reason, democratic, rational, liberal, pitted against 'the East', here only the Arab Middle East, Iran and Turkey, which is despotic, irrational, arbitrary and everything else we're supposed to hate. Mind you, Pagden is at least aware that these concepts are not just innate or natural, and he attempts to add some social, economic and political analysis to muddy up his shallow waters. When that history isn't questionable (his bit on Roman citizenship and universal human rights) it is badly twisted to fit a mendacious argument about the inherent and abiding differences between East and West. Why is it dishonest? Well, Pagden deliberately leaves out China and India, for starters, and writes as if Said's 'Orientalism' (a troubled but insightful book) had never existed. Most unforgivably, Pagden is a historian of imperial ideologies: he has devoted much of his academic career to studying the ways in which European justified their overseas conquests, and yet he seems barely away of the supreme irony that his work is itself redolent with imperialist ideology. Ugh. "
— Cameron, 1/21/2014 -
" very informative and interesting so far "
— Jim, 1/19/2014 -
" A really good primer on the historical factors that lead to the "irreconcilable differences" between East (middle east) and West. it does leave the reader troubled as to the future of two great civilizations. "
— Paul, 1/5/2014 -
" One of the clearest accounts of the "battle" between east and west that I have read. Highly recommended. "
— Dave, 12/29/2013 -
" Very good history of the war between East and West and how religion is in the middle of it all. "
— Jackie, 12/18/2013 -
" Interesting history of the east-west conflict in world history. "
— Paul, 12/7/2013 -
" I loved this book. If you enjoyed this then also recommend Why the West Rules for Now by Ian Morris. Pagden has a great writing style (more so than I will ever have!) and he does not assume much prior historical knowledge. I think this book should be required reading. "
— Christopher, 9/4/2012 -
" Loved the book, Gave a great idea of East vs. West from the Persians to the US "
— Chris, 2/19/2012 -
" A far reaching, in-depth look at the struggle of Europe and Islam. Very interesting and fair minded. "
— Chip, 1/2/2012 -
" This book explores the wars between Europe and Asia (AKA East Vs. West) from the time of The Iliad to the present. "
— Kyle, 10/7/2011 -
" Very informative, if a bit dry and long winded. Great resource for a complete overview of the conflict between east and west. "
— Luke, 6/3/2011 -
" Good historical overview of the differences between the West and the East (and by "East" he primarily deals with Middle East area, not China and India). This book can definitely be tedious, however, as Pagden goes to great lengths to relate details that are insignificant to his thesis. "
— Jonathan, 4/28/2011 -
" A good survey that is marred by sub-par analysis. If you don't know the history of this period it is a very useful book...but if you are looking for a good analysis of the issues you will not find it here...at least nothing original. But worth a look. "
— David, 10/6/2010 -
" This book offers an exceptional survey of the interaction and struggle between East and West from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the current conflicts. I was floored by the differences and historical incidences that continue to influence our time. "
— Garrett, 9/24/2008
About Anthony Pagden
Anthony Pagden has been a fellow of Merton College, Oxford; University Reader in Intellectual History at Cambridge University; a fellow of King’s College; and the Harry C. Black Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University. He is currently a professor in the history and political science departments at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of numerous prize-winning books on European imperialism and the European understanding of non-European cultures. Among his recent publications are Peoples and Empires and Europeans and the Rest of the World. He also contributes regularly to the Times Literary Supplement, the London Review of Books, the New Republic, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times. He lives in Los Angeles.
About John Lee
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.