Culture : the story of us, from cave art to K-pop

Puchner, Martin 1969- (author.).

Summary: "What good are the arts? Why should we care about the past? For millennia, humanity has sought to understand and transmit to future generations not just the "know-how" of life, but the "know-why"-The meaning and purpose of our existence, as expressed in art, architecture, religion, and philosophy. This crucial passing down of knowledge has required the radical integration of insights from the past and from other cultures. In Culture, acclaimed author, professor, and public intellectual Martin Puchner takes us on a breakneck tour through pivotal moments in world history, providing a global introduction to the arts and humanities in one engaging volume"--

Record details

ISBN: 9780393867992 (hardcover)
Physical Description: print
xxiv, 349 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 24 cm
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: New York : W.W. Norton & Company, [2023]
Copyright: ©2023

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 309-336) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Preface: How culture works -- Introduction: Inside the Chauvet Cave, 35,000 BCE -- Queen Nefertiti and her faceless god -- Plato burns his tragedy and invents a history -- King Ashoka sends a message to the future -- A south Asian goddess in Pompeii -- A Buddhist pilgrim in search of ancient traces -- The Pillow Book and some perils of cultural diplomacy -- When Baghdad became a storehouse of wisdom -- The Queen of Ethiopia welcomes the raiders of the ark -- One Christian mystic and the three revivals of Europe -- The Aztec capital faces its European enemies and admirers -- A Portuguese sailor writes a global epic -- Enlightenment in Saint-Domingue and in a Parisian salon -- George Eliot promotes the science of the past -- A Japanese wave takes the world by storm -- The drama of Nigerian independence -- Epilogue: Will there be a library in 2114 CE?