The Genius of Western Civilization, Part 6: Is the West Now History?

This 44-minute video is Part 6 of the New Culture Forum’s landmark six-part documentary series exploring the history, achievements and genius of Western civilisation. Inspired by legendary TV programs such as Civilisation, Kenneth Clark’s 1969 masterpiece, The West is a bold reminder of who we are — and why our culture is worth defending.

It has become easy, almost tempting to imagine the West in decline. In this concluding episode, Marc Sidwell argues that the West’s distributed, individual energy keeps it vibrant and capable of reinvention – so long as it does not lose touch with its own roots. The episode traces the two paths taken by the Enlightenment to illustrate the point. One path rejected Western tradition and led to totalitarianism, gulags and mass death. The other, consciously rooted in the Western past, produced the American dream, peace and plenty.