"A captivating exploration of how "Western Civilization"--the concept of a single cultural inheritance extending from ancient Greece to modern times--is a powerful figment of our collective imagination"-- Provided by publisher.

The concept of "the West" is present in entertainment, politics, and world markets. Told through fourteen figures who each played a role in the creation of the Western idea— from Herodotus, a mixed-race migrant, to Phylis Wheatley, an enslaved African American who became a literary sensation, to the medieval Arab scholar Al-Kindi— Mac Sweeney provides a mind-expanding blend of unsung heroes and familiar faces viewed afresh. Spanning the millennia and the continents, representing different religions, varying levels of wealth and education, diverse traditions and nationalities, each life tells us something unexpected about the age in which it was lived and offers us a piece of the puzzle of how the modern idea of the West developed— and why we've misunderstood it for too long. If we are to chart a future for the West, we must properly understand its past. -- adapted from jacket