From Babylon to the Beatles, from Moses to #MeToo, Tom Holland compellingly and masterfully depicts the historical forces and events that have shaped and revolutionized the Western world and our values up to the present day. This grand and elegantly narrated panorama of history illustrates how we became what we are.

How did the West become what it is today? What legacy is reflected in its way of thinking and imagination? With unparalleled narrative skill, Tom Holland tells the story of the West, starting from its ancient and Christian heritage. He demonstrates that genuinely Christian traditions and perspectives are still omnipresent in our modern society and its supposedly universal value systems—even in places where they are denied, such as in secularism, atheism, or the natural sciences.

Holland weaves a grand narrative arc from the Persian Wars, the revolutionary beginnings of Christianity in antiquity, through its spread in medieval Europe, to its transformation in modern times. In gripping scenes, the author recounts world-historical events and vividly portrays the central figures and antagonists of Christianity (including Jesus, Paul, Abelard, Saint Elizabeth, Spinoza, Darwin, Nietzsche, and the Beatles). Across vast temporal distances, Holland draws connections and parallels, thereby revealing the spirit of the Western culture that still prevails.

“A super interesting book by the great English historian Tom Holland, in which he describes the history of the West as the story of the permanent revolution of Christendom against itself. Very well written.” – Claudius Seidl, RBB

“Tom Holland has written an opulently orchestrated historiographical blockbuster. A new chapter in the fruitful exchange between historiography and beautiful literature.” – Gustav Seibt.