Welcome to “The Western Story” — a journey 2,500 years in the making! In this series of easy-to-digest videos, Professor Victor Davis Hanson takes you through the world of the Greeks, Romans and more in an effort to better understand our modern world. Gaze into the mirror of antiquity to understand the present.
The series includes eight 30-minute videos lectures and eight companion e-books. Available via online streaming only.
In just eight intellectually-rich lectures, journey with Professor Victor Davis Hanson through over 2,000 years of history. You’ll explore and discover the many connections between the Greeks, Romans and ourselves.
Chapter 1) Why Read Classical Literature – From Homer to Augustine?
Why bother to read things written 2,500 years ago? Because human nature has not changed, and so the classical authors still have much to teach us. In fact, thinkers like Homer and Socrates often have better answers to our problems than those provided by modern pundits. The classical authors were not distracted by Twitter and Facebook or hobbled by political correctness; they give it to us straight.
Chapter 2) Classical Warfare And the Birth of Western Military Dynamism
How was the West able to conquer the world, and how does it manage to maintain its military edge even today? Part of the answer can be traced back to the Greeks and Romans, whose military innovations comprise a formidable legacy that separates today’s Western armies from their less-lethal adversaries.
Chapter 3) Can Democracy Be Dangerous?
The Greeks invented democracy, but they never perfected the formula. Unrestrained democracy leads to mob rule, so the Romans instituted a republic with checks and balances. But placing too many checks on democracy leads to oligarchy and tyranny. Modern-day Americans want equality and liberty, but can we have both in equal measure? We’re still tinkering with the formula, trying to get it right.
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Complete text and video linked here.
