I will be on Counterpoint on Radio National at about 4.30pm Monday, EST talking about the medieval origins of Western civilisation. My appearance was prompted by host Michael Duffy reading this post.
ADDENDA: The podcast will turn up here.
This Day In Iraqi History - Jul 12 Zarqawi told fmr mentor Maqdisi
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1923 1st Parliamentary elections resumed after protests by Shiite clergy
led to delay Assembly
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1937 Association f...
27 minutes ago
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteI quite enjoyed your discussion on the origins of Western civilisation on Counterpoint. Well done.
Damian
My mental map of the DNA of democracy was challenged and I'd like to know more.The idea that we owe some of our cultural fundamentals to Germany is a healthy counterpoint to stereotyping about fascism.
ReplyDeleteIs your hypothesis examined in dpeth anywhere?
Frank
Damian, thanks for the compliment.
ReplyDeleteEva, or is that Frank?, the notion that Western civilisation has Germanic roots is an old one. For example, C17th and C18th English radicals used to talk of the Norman Conquest destroying Saxon freedom.
Chapter Five of David Gress's From Plato to Nato is a good place to start, as he explicitly discusses the interaction of such ideas with reactions to fascism.