Some things are a given. The value of a good education. Time’s progress. Death.
Except most of the ideas that form Western Civilisation are just that – ideas. Taking cues from Greek philosophy and honed in the Enlightenment, certain notions about humanity and human society grew into the tenets we live by, and we haven’t questioned them a great deal since. But isn’t it time we asked who really benefits from the values at the core of our society? How much truth lies in a science that conjured up ‘race’? Who do laws and nations really protect? Why does it feel like time is money? What even is ‘art’?
And the real question – is the West really as ‘civilised’ as it thinks it is?
This audiobook will put everything back on the table and ask listeners to reconsider what they thought they knew about civilisation. Taking 10 core values of Western Civilisation in turn, it will examine the root of the idea, how it developed, and how it’s impacted the way we live. Most importantly it will reveal how each of these ideas was either created in opposition to another group of people, or based on ideas they had first (and better).
(Un)civilised will ask listeners to open their eyes to the why behind how they think the world works.
(P) 2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
Except most of the ideas that form Western Civilisation are just that – ideas. Taking cues from Greek philosophy and honed in the Enlightenment, certain notions about humanity and human society grew into the tenets we live by, and we haven’t questioned them a great deal since. But isn’t it time we asked who really benefits from the values at the core of our society? How much truth lies in a science that conjured up ‘race’? Who do laws and nations really protect? Why does it feel like time is money? What even is ‘art’?
And the real question – is the West really as ‘civilised’ as it thinks it is?
This audiobook will put everything back on the table and ask listeners to reconsider what they thought they knew about civilisation. Taking 10 core values of Western Civilisation in turn, it will examine the root of the idea, how it developed, and how it’s impacted the way we live. Most importantly it will reveal how each of these ideas was either created in opposition to another group of people, or based on ideas they had first (and better).
(Un)civilised will ask listeners to open their eyes to the why behind how they think the world works.
(P) 2024 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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Reviews
A witty and accessible survey of the shortcomings of western civilisation as many people imagine it
A vital piece of work in our challenging times that reminds us of the rich history and influences outside the West. Das writes with passion and humour to open our eyes to the history that has shaped our world
A stunning debut. Subhadra Das shows how a word - civilisation - became a lie. She traces how that lie was repeated and transformed in universities and museums, and how it came to be embedded in the idea of 'western' culture itself. Clearly and passionately, Uncivilised shows us how to begin to dispel such enduring untruths - with seriousness and humour in equal measure
With cutting wit and incisive insight, Uncivilised makes minced meat out of the leviathan known as 'Western civilization'. Imagine a brilliant curator-comedian guiding you on an irreverent tour through a grand museum - exposing its attics, sewers, and closets full of real and metaphoric skeletons. Subhadra guides us out of hallowed, hypocritical halls of the 'Ten Lies That Made the West', and shares with us the histories, knowledges, and ingenuity of those peoples and cultures dismissed as 'uncivilised'
There is a quiet, righteous rage that steams off the pages of this book. I can't help but wish it was a book I'd read many decades ago
Everything you never knew you needed to know, told with wit and charm. Das unveils the hidden history that shapes every so-called 'fact' of civilisation with a wry sense of humour and an expert's knowledge.
Das traces the lies coiled serpent-like around the foundations of Western 'civilisation' with wit and elan, in a paradigm-shifting yet highly accessible tome. If there's one book you read this year, let it be this
Subhadra Das expertly takes us on journey, weaving wit and vulnerability within years of research. Uncivilised balances brilliant storytelling with academia, resulting in an unflinching debut that's hard to put down
Using a fast-paced mixture of memoir, historical analysis and zingers, Das asks how well the Western world has lived up to the ideals it has set for itself, from impartial justice to the scientific method
Uncivilised will make the intelligent reader question everything they thought they knew, in the best possible way. Clever, funny and shrewd - everyone who cares about ideas needs to read this book
A coruscating critique of Western civilisation . . . [Das's] personal and academic background makes her uniquely qualified to call out the 'lies' that underpin the West . . . A talented writer with much to say