Description

What good are the arts Why should we care about the past For millennia humanity has sought to understand and transmit to future generations not just the knowhow of life but the knowwhythe meaning and purpose of our existence as expressed in art architecture religion and philosophy This crucial passing down of knowledge has required the radical integration of insights from the past and from other cultures In Culture acclaimed author professor and public intellectual Martin Puchner takes us on a breakneck tour through pivotal moments in world history providing a global introduction to the arts and humanities in one engaging volume

From Nefertitis lost city to the plays of Wole Soyinka from the theaters of ancient Greece to Chinese travel journals to Arab and Aztec libraries from a South Asian statuette found at Pompeii to a time capsule left behind on the Moon Puchner tells the gripping story of human achievement through our collective losses and rediscoveries power plays and heroic journeys innovations imitations and appropriations More than a work of history Culture is an archive of humanitys most monumental junctures and a guidebook for the future of us humans as a creative species