Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Roman Catholicism's Western Civilization... November 20, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I have found all of the "Politically Incorrect" guides both informative and entertaining... That is until I read the "Western Civilization" edition. It hardly follows the format for the other guides and ends up being an apologetic for Roman Catholicism. Esolen, admittedly a devout Catholic, goes on a rampage as he blames Protestantism as well as liberalism for all the woes of our culture. He goes on to claim that if we had left the Roman church in charge, all of our problems would have been non-existant. This is NOT a book I would recommend for non-Catholic conservatives nor for Christians in general.
 Contents offensive to liberals! Read it for that reason alone. November 1, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Funny and right on target, this book clearly makes liberals bristle with outrage, as witness some of the reviews. But even without the thrill of going against the liberal hegemony, this book is fun to read and has lots of info no history teacher today will let you know about.
It is painful to recall that once, some fifty or more years ago, universities were crammed with students taking classes in history and English. These departments, now firmly in control of the left, have shrunk to the size of peas. Not many people want to take classes to be hectored by shrill feminists or glowering Marxists who insist that everything in history is about 21st century politics.
What a relief, then, to turn to this book and read some actual truth. "From 962...to 1321...Europe enjoyed one of the most magnificent flourishings of culture the world has seen. In some ways it was the most magnificent" (p 131). Yes, I know. How dare he say it, even if it is the truth?
Best of all is the chapter called Israel: How God Changed the World. This is nothing less than a brilliant discussion of the consequences that followed the Jewish belief in monotheism. I can't recall anything I have read lately that is as good.
This was a God that was above nature "not a nature god" (p 70). It would be the end, eventually, of having a god associated with the monarch. It would bring dignity and human rights to every person on earth. It would yield science. Because God claimed he inented thw world and gave it a destiny, it put all all on a journey toward that destiny.
"It is deeply ironic that they (Jews) should have played so important a role in the development of Western civilization--indeed a central role. They had little to recommend them. They did not invent democracy...We remember them for one thing alone, but it is the most important thing: the revelation of the one, holy, all knowing, almighty, all loving God (p 69).
All the vaunted glories of Rome and Greece, of China and Egypt, were as nothing compared to the gift a scruffy group of herdsmen gave to us.
A Sound Survey September 2, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Anthony Esolen examines a wide variety of sources as he builds an alternative view of western civilization. Esolen challenges the currently popular "politically correct" view which holds that the West was built upon a godless and moralless foundation. Certainly, there were those who spoke of good and sound morals, but their words are to be taken with a heavy (lethal) dose of bitter cynicism. It is politically correct to say that there are no absolutes, nothing is purely good or evil. Why, the very notion of an objective (moral) truth is patently absurd, say the politically correct. If anyone needs moral guidelines the state will provide them and enforce them. Of course, the state is dominated by those who adhere to a morally bankrupt ideology.
Those who project this politically correct approach are often very well read. They come heavily armed with quotes and anecdotes. They are magicians who can make your moral doubts disappear. Esolen examines many of the sources of this politically correct mindset. Such thinkers easily overwhelm the unarmed; that is, the students in their classes and the readers of their books. And the masses fall in line.
Esolen carefully examines the Greek and Roman roots of the West. He stresses how the Judeo-Christian tradition has given the West a vital moral focus, which is suppressed and denigrated by the politically correct today.
Even if you don't agree with Esolen's model, the book is a sound guide to the knowledge on which western civilization is based. I found particularly useful his study of Plato, the politics of the Roman Republic, ancient Israel, the Middle Ages, and the Enlightenment. Many of the sources he quotes reflect his apparent background in literature, primarily English and French.
The book is sprinkled with pithy descriptions of people and events. For example, Margaret Sanger was a "hater of blacks, hater of Catholics, admirer of Hitler." Also, Esolen points out that our presidential electoral process undermines potentially dangerous fringe movements because "if you can't win a state, you can't win anything."
Esolen challenges one of the top beliefs of the politically correct: the past was backwards, full of ignorance. Therefore, the present is all that matters, and the future will be bright precisely because it rejects the past. This book clearly demonstrates the wisdom of the past and the great ideas on which the West was built.
 Simply awful August 29, 2008
6 out of 27 found this review helpful
This isn't a book of history. It is an excuse for the author to extol religion and conservative ideology and criticize atheism, homosexuality, and other supposed evils. I couldn't even finish the book--it was that bad. Atheists are "slovenly," to take one example of the author's poor writing. Skip this book and read a real history book.
No One Is Good... August 20, 2008
7 out of 54 found this review helpful
What this book came down to was everything before Jesus was evil and everything now is evil because of our removal of religious piety. He implies that Christianity and the State should be one in the same(Despite what he says the Israel chapter) and that we've fallen from the Number 1 spot in the world is because of heathen liberals. Enlightenment didn't bring about Socialism and Fascism(Which, in and of themselves aren't evil) but the Industrial Revolution brought Socialism and the unhappiness of Democracy AND Communism brought about Fascism. This professor of literture should stick to shakespeare, and leave history to the historians.
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