Civilisation

As relevant now as ever as our civilisation is exhausted and giving way to the machines.

With AI, in a Terminator future, without the paradox of time travel - there is no hope for Arnie coming back to save us, time, the fourth dimension makes it impossible.

Made a long time ago, 50 years or so, using queens English and eloquent speech. It shows us we are doomed, every civilisation destroys itself after a few thousand years, mayans, Egyptians, Romans.

We don't have long, enjoy it while you can.

It's a fascinating documentary series, 4 hours to let you know where you came from, and where you are going to.

Totally superb. The truth is that for all the current foolish complaints about the patriarchy and white privilege etc, etc ad nauseam the facts will outlive the children's current outrage.

Here is a reminder that the west has so much to be proud of. Britain especially. We are where we are today because of the success and adoption of the British and the wests systems of government, an independent judiciary, standardized weights and measures, universal education, invention, financial institutions, etc, etc.

Without the west's civilization life will be nasty, brutish and short to quote Hobbes. This cracking documentary shows the results of supporting "from the river to the sea" and the superb developments that resulted from the terrible colonizers.

Clark becomes tiresome by modern standards. His focus is almost entirely on art and architecture omitting elements of science that could be legitimately included.

Watching the series in China, it makes me all the more proud of my heritage. The last comment is a good one; let Clark introduce himself to you, just as one reads a Herodotus or Suetonius- to be in the presence of a knowledgeable and engaging friend. having visited many of the places shown, it's also a marked benefit that the series was filmed in 1969, when travel was truly the domain of those seeking enlightenment before our days of package tours. And how clear and lucid are his discussions of culture and history! Often I found myself anticipating his next sentence from my own classes I teach, but am left feeling pedantic and plebeian by comparison. Although the BBC continues to be a source of wonderment through its historical live-action recreation series such as Auschwitz, Pompeii and the Attenboroughs, this is truly of its time when there was no need for gimmicks or embellishment. www.tracesofevil.blogspot.com

Yes opiniated, yes patrician, but also an enlightening, exceptional documentary series. Nothing else I've seen on the BBC can match it (though I enjoyed The Ascent of Man very much). A profoundly intelligent look at Western 'Art' History covering music, painting, architecture, sculpture, writing (poetry, drama, prose, philosophy) and celebrating the astonishing achievements of individuals. "There they are, you can't dismiss them". Quite.