Discover the essential nature, evolution, and perceptions of Western civilization from its humble beginnings in the great river valleys of Iraq and Egypt to the dawn of the modern world. These 48 lectures on the people, places, ideas, and events that make up the foundations of Western civilization invite you to explore a vast and rich territory. From the late stages of the Agricultural Revolution to the doorstep of the Scientific Revolution, these lectures cover roughly 3000 B.C. to A.D. 1600, when the “foundations” of the modern West come into view. Professor Noble's goal: to offer a history of what has been fundamental across millennia in the West, that most unusual of world civilizations. Your learning will cover vast amounts of territory and thousands of years, including the ancient Near East, the rise and fall of Greece and Rome, the physical and cultural expansion of Western Europe, and the Portuguese and Spanish voyages of exploration and discovery. No other civilization has achieved the global reach of the West. By surveying Mesopotamia to modernity and everything in between, you'll pursue answers to the questions of what “the West” most essentially is or has been thought to be, and what distinguishes it from other world civilizations.
