From Plato to Postmodernism
Bristol Classical Press, 2011. 
From Plato to Postmodernism is a primer in Western Culture, helping the student to bridge the gap from high school to college and taking everyone with an interest in the fascinating story of the West on a journey through its leading names and most important turning points. This book gathers together the cultural history of the West into a concise volume in which nearly four thousand years of Western cultural history come together in one unfolding story in which philosophy, literature and art all reflect and shape the twists and turns that have built today’s world. Weaving its way from the West’s Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian origins through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Enlightenment and Romanticism to the postmodernism of the twenty-first century, From Plato to Postmodernism uses diagrams, illustrations and and an extensive glossary to explain terms like ‘Gothic’ and ‘baroque’, ‘idealism’ and ‘the death of God’. These ideas and more are set in their historical and cultural context, along with important names from Aristotle, Abraham and Charlemagne to Michelangelo, Blake and Derrida.
What the blurb didn’t say was that this book was just a riot of fun to write. Trying to cover sweeping vistas of Western cultural history proved a real antidote to spending days on the same paragraph from a contemporary philosopher. Thank you so much to all those who helped me along the way!
Reviews
M. Jason Reddoch, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
‘Considering the brevity of the book, Watkin successfully packs in a lot of information while still producing a highly readable volume.’
‘This book is appropriate for any specialist or educated non-specialist who seeks to broaden his or her understanding of Western culture; however, it is probably best suited to the undergraduate student and is ideal for a humanities class as a supplement to other primary readings. Individual chapters could be assigned in isolation, but in my opinion, the real value for the student would come from reading it cover to cover in order to get the big picture of Western culture. There is a fairly extensive glossary of terms at the end of the book, and Watkin also makes abundant use of diagrams and charts in order to simply complex ideas.’
‘What stands out to me is that Watkin does not just present a superficial survey of names and terms. In other words, it reads more like a novel than an encyclopedic hall of fame list. As he tells the story of Western culture, Watkin seeks to paint a picture of the Western tradition in dialogue with itself. Thus he presents Western ideas in a constant state of being recycled, revised, challenged and subverted.’
‘Although Watkin focuses on philosophy and literature, he is careful to provide numerous examples of how changing intellectual perspectives are mirrored in developments in art and music.’
‘A survey like this is necessarily selective. Every reader will think of authors or topics that Watkin could have included, and every reader will wish that Watkin had provided more or less detail in particular sections. In other words, there is a certain amount of content that is chosen arbitrarily, but in the end, what matters is whether or not the author is successful in using his arbitrary selections to effectively narrate the story of Western intellectual and aesthetic history on the whole. In my opinion, Watkin has done this extremely well. The reader gets a sense not only of what major names and concepts are central to Western culture, but also of how they developed in relation to one another.’
‘In sum, I can imagine someone using different selections to write this type of survey, but I cannot imagine someone doing a better job overall.’
