Western Civilization A Social and Cultural History

[TofC cont.] Rebirth in Italy, the civilization of the Italian Renaissance (1300-1550); Of one church, many, Protestant Reformation and Catholic reform (1500-1650); Absolute power, war and politics in early modern Europe (1500-1750); Europe reaches out, global voyages and cultural encounters (1500-1750) -- Glossary. If the West is not a place but a collection of ideas, values, customs, and beliefs, we still need to understand its development. How did it arise? Who were its main architects? Where did it begin its journey, and where did it travel? When did it begin, when did it crystallize, and when was it most challenged? Why did it emerge as it did, and why is it important for us to know these things? ... This book explores these questions ... It looks at the story of nations, rulers, and wars, as histories have always done. But it looks more than most at the story of religion and ideas and the arts, those areas of human thought and imagination in which the ideas and values that distinguish the West have taken form. It also looks closely at societies and households, the daily lives of parents and children, men and women.-Pref.