"...a monumental work of reclamation and revival...The Golden Thread comes as a history, an argument, a treasure hoard." -The Wall Street Journal
A sweeping, resource-rich history of the ancient world and Christendom-designed for students and lifelong learners alike, and faithful to the enduring legacy of the Western tradition.This is Volume I of a two-part series tracing the story of Western civilization from antiquity to the modern age.
The Western Tradition from Antiquity to 1500
Where do the threads that form the Western tradition originate, and how were they woven together over the two and a half millennia before 1500? What are the sources of our modern ideas about science, freedom, equality, law, good government, and virtue? These are the questions explored in The Golden Thread, Volume I: The Ancient World and Christendom, written by James Hankins.
The story begins with the seminal culture of the classical Greeks and moves through the Hellenization of the east following the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hankins then narrates the rise and dominance of Rome and the fusion of Greco-Roman and Judea-Christian cultures in the Christian empire of the fourth century AD. The volume follows the history of Christendom from the fall of the Western Roman Empire, charts its centuries-long rivalry with the Islamic world, and culminates in the emergence of European civilization in the Middle Age and Renaissance.
Volume I Examines how the foundations were laid for the West's political and economic dominance in the modern era, illuminating the deep roots of the ideas, arts, and institutions that continue to shape our world.
The Golden Thread is a two-volume history of the Western tradition. Volume I is authored by James Hankins; Volume II, covering the modern and contemporary West, is authored by Allen C. Guelzo.
The Golden Threadseries features:
The Vision of Two Authors
Written by two of the most distinguished historians of our time.
The Golden Threadspeaks in coherent, singular voices. Each volume is authored by an eminent individual writing in narrative form and interpretive tone, and animated by the conviction that knowledge across disciplines is best pursued through stories that are rich in insight, humanity, and meaning.
A Cultural Inheritance
Nearly 1000 curated images-sculptures, paintings, and artifacts-from the vaults of the West's finest cultural institutions.
Readers are not merely told what happened, but shown what was created-page after page alive with the rich architecture, sculpture, music, and painting that gave visible form to the West's most enduring aspirations.
Living Voices from the Distant Past
Features close to 200 foundational primary source texts drawn from every era.
Woven through the chapters are the voices that once commanded nations, composed poems and hymns, and drafted creeds. These are not summaries or paraphrases-they are the words themselves, as they were first spoken, sung, and inscribed.
Visual Histories of the World
Enriched by over 150 bespoke maps, each a visual key to the unfolding story of the West.
The Golden Thread does more than locate events-it reconstructs the shifting boundaries of thought, faith, empire, and imagination that defined how men and women once pictured the world and their place within it.
About the Author :
JAMES HANKINS is Professor of History at Harvard University, where he teaches Western intellectual history, the history of the classical tradition, and the Italian Renaissance. His prize-winning book, Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy, was published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University in November 2019.
ALLEN C. GUELZO is the Thomas W. Smith Distinguished Research Scholar in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. He is the bestselling author, most recently, of Our Ancient Faith: Lincoln, Democracy and the American Experiment. He is a three-time winner of the Lincoln Prize.
Review :
"...The Golden Thread comes as a history, an argument, a treasure hoard. Happy is the student who will have a semester to study this magnificent book. Happy, too, is the general reader who stands, as one on the threshold of the Louvre, preparing to enter the shining galleries that lie ahead."
—The Wall Street Journal
"The Golden Thread is simply levels above ordinary textbooks. It's a comprehensive history of Western civilization that is less a standard textbook than the mature statement of an especially thoughtful scholar."
—National Review
"...undoubtedly the book of the year."
—Claremont Review of Books
"Highly recommend....Historian James Hankins argues that understanding the history of the Western tradition is the only way to preserve civilization."
—Coleman Hughes, The Free Press
"It is a masterpiece—staggeringly learned and judicious in its handling of Western civilization's glories and failings."
—Compact
"A magnificent, detailed overview of the evolution of the West from antiquity to the Renaissance."
—George Weigel, Denver Catholic
"In this book live thousands of years of exquisitely rendered thought, wisdom, sacrifice, beauty and adventure."
—The Spectator World
"The Golden Thread is an excellent addition to books on Western Civilization that already exist, but also an advancement on what has come before."
—Law & Liberty
"The Golden Thread is a history of near-run survivals and improbable resurrections. It’s also a noble part of that history, as are its authors. They can count their job well done."
—Spencer A. Klavan, Claremont Review of Books
