History of Western Morals

by Crane Brinton

Book Overview

Hailed by The New York Times as "tantalizing" and "learned," A History of Western Morals brings together an impressive range of knowledge of Western civilization. From the ancient cultures of the Near... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557783705
• ISBN13: 9781557783707
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Paragon House Publishers
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

An excellent history of morals

Crane Brinton's 1959 "A History of Western Morals" is a wonderful history of what various western civilizations have believed to be right and wrong. Beginning in the ancient mideast and Greece, and continuing up until the middle of the twentieth century, Brinton combines a historian's understanding of the past with a contemporary view of the value of deciding moral issues with reference to the past. He does not shy away from suggesting which moral standpoints have the most value, but only after examining the implications of each historical set of morals. This is not a book that caters to our current lack of historical understanding; you need to know who the players are before starting to read this book (if you know, say, who Luther, Aristotle, and John Stuart Mill are, you'll do fine; otherwise, wait until you've had a class in western civilization in high school or college). Readable by anybody with a background in basic western history, "A History of Western Morals" is one of the most stimulating books I have ever read.