W. M. Spellman

Breve storia della morte è un buon libro per iniziare ad avventurarsi in quella che è la storia di come gli esseri umani abbiano affrontato la morte dalla preistoria a oggi. Il libro si concentra sul cosiddetto Occidente, ma butta un occhio anche in altre aree geografiche e altre culture.

Per chi è espertə di morte e dintorni risulterà quasi sicuramente un libro noioso: essendo una breve storia non è granché approfondita, ma fornisce un buon punto di partenza per andare a esplorare (nelle note troverete una ricca raccolta di libri che parlano di morte). Da profana, posso dirvi di aver notato che, soprattutto nel racconto che Spellman fa della preistoria e dell’inizio della storia, ci sono diversi elementi dati per certi che so essere messi in discussione dalla storiografia.

Nel complesso, è un libro che consiglio: non è troppo sofisticato, pensato anche per chi non ha particolari conoscenze filosofiche pregresse, e nessunə può eccepire che l’argomento non lə riguardi.

L’elemento più sorprendente per me è stato leggere quanto la concezione della morte sia cambiata attraverso i secoli: ero propensa a credere che la morte fosse sempre stata più o meno affrontata negli stessi modi, fatte salve le diverse religioni e l’ateismo. Invece, le vite degli esseri umani sono cambiate tanto quanto è cambiata la loro morte: vale davvero la pena di indagare sulla nostra fine, per quanto il solo pensiero possa risultarci sgradevole, anche solo per tutte le informazioni che ci dà su come viviamo il nostro tempo e il nostro spazio.… (mehr)

Although it lives up to its title ('Concise History since 1945'), I could not help but think that a concise view of history, by definition, excludes a lot of narratives - which was the case here.
For example, there's a very shallow treatment of the horrors of colonialism. Since this is US-centric - there's a tendency to go off on tangents lambasting communism and its lack of 'innovative' character, and capitalism's superiority is treated as a fact. The USA interfering with elected governments to bring about anti-communist governments is hand-waved as 'yeah, that happened, get over it - at least we're better now!'. In contrast, USSR's successes till the 70s/80s are ignored as coming from an authoritarian regime.
There's no problem with history being brief and to the point, but there is a problem when your bias is evident. This is still immensely readable, and it's worthwhile to read it in full to get to know Africa/Asia's history, which is generally missing from many history books. Plus, it's funny when Spellman's hope for world unity in the conclusion aged like milk.… (mehr)

In this readable and succinct volume, Spellman (University of North Carolina, Asheville) provides an introduction to the evolution of political ideas that have shaped the West. The author synthesizes a tremendous body of historical and philosophical sources into an accessible survey, generally following the tradition of interpretation of the “Cambridge School” of political thought. The book is divided into six chapters that represent transitional periods, beginning with Hellenic political theory (chapter one), and concluding with 20th century political theory (chapter six). The greatest contribution of the survey is found in chapter two’s thoughtful analysis of the diversity of political thinking in the Late Middle Ages. Spellman poignantly surveys the intellectual landscape, arguing “Our penchant, for the most part, is to applaud history’s great centralizers, and in the Middle Ages the list is short. The modern growth imperative, together with the drive to concentrate power, simply did not inform the thinking of most medieval leaders” (p. 34).

The astute reader will also be pleasantly surprised to see the attention given to Edmund Burke’s and Adam Smith’s (p. 105) contributions to political thought, as these central figures are often neglected or purposely omitted from texts of this variety. The author even alludes to the work of Sir Robert Filmer (p. 77) and Joseph de Maistre (p. 116) in his attempt to include all perspectives into his narrative.

The book’s lack of attention to the structure and arguments of primary texts under evaluation is a significant weakness, however. While considerable attention is devoted to historical events, the continuing relevance of central texts in the Western political tradition is ignored. Regardless of any criticism, the tome is a useful primer on Western political thought for the general reader and undergraduate student.… (mehr)