Worlds at War

The author examines the causes of war and the effects of those conflicts on civilizations from the beginning of recorded history to the present. He justifies his opinion that a clash of religions has caused most of them. Narrator John Lee elevates the author's concentrated delivery of information, making this a listenable experience with his ability to modulate and emphasize his speech. Such a worldly journey presents Lee with a formidable vocabulary of foreign terms, but he remains forever fluent in all of them. His linguistic skill exemplifies how the comfort of a reader on an international sea of words can render an equivalent pleasure to the listener. Lovers of historical exploration in literature will appreciate this audiobook's happy marriage of information and presentation. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

November 12, 2007
In the pessimistic words of the ancient historian Herodotus, there will ever be “perpetual enmity” between the globe’s two halves. Pagden (Peoples and Empires
), a professor of political science and history at UCLA, tackles the immense sweep of 2,500 years of bad blood and seeks to explain the feud’s continuing existence despite the increasing erosion of national differences. Does the trouble have geographical roots, or might it stem from religious differences? Pagden is convinced that in fact East and West are separated more by values and culture than by anything else—democratic vs. authoritarian rule, secular vs. theocratic and, later, Christian vs. Muslim. Though some readers might cavil at Pagden’s reductionist assertion that religion has “caused more lasting harm to the human race than any other single set of beliefs,” his book is an accessible and lucid exploration of the history of the East-West split, concluding with a nuanced look at the divisions and misapprehensions that continue to the present time. Fans of Jacques Barzun and Jared Diamond will be most impressed by Pagden’s “big picture” perspective.