‘There’s no pure European culture,’ says Josephine Quinn, author of How the World Made the West
An eye emergency led historian Josephine Quinn to ponder over what she wanted to say in her next book. “I thought what if I lose my vision... and decided to summarise my learning from teaching history for two decades.” How the World Made the West is an ambitious book, which moves away from a narrative focused solely on the Greeks and Romans, to conclude that their histories are rooted in other places and even older peoples. On the sidelines of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Quinn explained why connections, not civilisations, drive historical change. Edited excerpts:
Statue of ancient Greek philosopher Plato in Athens.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images/iStockphoto
Why are you convinced that a narrative of the past focussed only on the Greeks and Romans impoverishes an understanding of the wo...
