And the World Created the West - A New History of the Ancient Worlds

According to a still-prevalent narrative, Western "civilization" (a 19th-century invention) is the fruit of Greek and Roman culture and knowledge, which disappeared from Europe during the so-called Dark Ages and were rediscovered during the Renaissance.

In this captivating work, Josephine Quinn shows that this alleged West did not exist without its very ancient Near Eastern, African, Indian, and Chinese influences. This global history offers an enthusiastic account that begins two thousand years before our era and continues through the Middle Ages.

With a rare talent for storytelling, the author invites us on a marvelous journey, a crossing of fascinating centuries, of millennia of encounters and commercial exchanges, of technical, cultural, and religious influences, of inventions that circulate worldwide.
Josephine Quinn masterfully tells stories, offering us narratives, portraits, and details that are both surprising and captivating, with great generosity. A masterful work.

A professor at the University of Cambridge, Josephine Crawley Quinn is a British historian and archaeologist specializing in Greek, Roman, and Phoenician history. She works more broadly on the history and archaeology of the Mediterranean.

Bold, beautifully written, and rich in impressive knowledge.
An extraordinary achievement.
Peter Frankopan

Translated from English by Souad Degachi and Maxime Shelledy