The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (Politically Incorrect Guides)
by Anthony Esolen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anthony EsolenEdition: Paperback
Published: 2008-06-17
ISBN: 1596980591
Number of pages: 340
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
Book Reviews of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (Politically Incorrect Guides)
Book Review: Tightly argued, lively, and erudite
Summary: 5 Stars
In the latest offering from Regnery's PIG series, Dr. Anthony Esolen takes aim at politically correct interpretations of Western Civilization. Esolen believes that those who peddle this way of thinking seek to "dissolve the foundation on which American and European culture had been built." This book seeks 1) to expose the flaws in these arguments and 2) to defend the noble Western tradition against this way of thinking.
Esolen's method involves the steady chronicling of the successes and failures of Western Civilization, the current relevance of which he explains at every opportunity. Moving from Greece to Rome to Israel and through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and finally to the 19th and 20th centuries, Esolen presents us with summaries, quotations, and analyses that show how politically correct interpretations of history ultimately belittle religion, family, and tradition, and in so doing, degrade our current place in civilization.
Several themes emerge along the way. One is the endurance and primacy of Natural Law, despite its changing enemies. Another is the way in which each succeeding culture views man's perfectibility: we go from the belief that moral training can perfect man, to God's grace doing so, to education and the Arts, to nature, to the State and politics--no coincidence is it that the further removed from God and virtue we get, the bloodier the period is.
Esolen presents us with many heroes, including some well-known names like Sophicles, Dante, Aquinas, Shakespeare, and Burke as well as some not-so-well-known names like Clement of Alexandria, Girolamo Savonarola, Romano Guardini, and Leo XIII.
We learn why Washington was called the Cincinatus and not the Pericles of his time, why Romans held little esteem for Homer's Odysseus, and why guilds and craftsman were the driving forces behind the High Middle Ages.
We are treated to many wonderful historical anecdotes, two of which - one involving St. Thomas Aquinas and the other Dr. Samuel Johnson - promise to warm the hearts of all truth-loving readers out there.
At one point in this romp through thousands of years of history, theology, philosophy, literature, architecture, music and art, Esolen praises Dr. Samuel Johnson: "How could one man possess so much learning, discoursing so easily about Aeschylus and Milton, without sounding like a dusty academic?" After reading this book, we are tempted to ask the same question.
Summary of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (Politically Incorrect Guides)
Western civilization is under attack. At universities and in the media, professors and pundits decry Western civilization as exploitative, destructive, and without value. But fear not: coming to its defense is Professor Anthony Esolen's The Politically Incorrect Guide(TM) to Western Civilization. This "P.I.G." will knock down the multi-culturalist propaganda and show how the West laid the cornerstones of all modern civilization, including historical, artistic, and intellectual achievements. This new installment in the bestselling P.I.G. series is not just a refreshing roadmap of Western civilization; it is a guide to "us": who we were, who we are, and where we are going. Using historical evidence and compelling arguments, Esolen proves why we not only owe it to history, but also to ourselves to set the record straight and respectfully acknowledge Western civilization's vital role in shaping our values and our world.Early Civilization Books
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