Introduction
The book is about Asia and Europe and the making of the West (Ball 1). The objective of the book is to provide the reader with historical information about the relationship between the East and the West, especially regarding how the West has impacted the East adversely. The scholarly nature of the book leaves its readers in a state of confusion, whereby they ask themselves many questions, chiefly about the validity of the information provided by the author. When one reads the book, he or she cannot clearly define it based on its intended audience. This paper focuses on discussing various concepts of the book, such as its aim, synopsis, basic theme, author’s support and opinion, and personal opinion of the writer of this essay.
The aim of the book
The publication focuses on providing readers with insights into the historical aspects of the East and the West. It appeals to the public, scholars, and people interested in the histories of Asia and Europe. An analysis by Warwick Ball, who is also the author of the book, gives a description of the growth of Persia and its influence on the West (Ball 34). According to his argument, the West can never compete with the East. Arguably, the East brought about civilization to the West, but not the other way round. His perceptions are articulate, and they are based on the experiences from his wide range of scholarly undertakings in not only history, but also other disciplines that related to history, such as archaeology. The publication, as mentioned above, is relevant for anyone interested in knowing more about Persia and the Persian perspective of the world and the people around the globe. The book gives the reader a wider perception with regard to how Persia once ruled the West, influencing it with its culture and many other mighty things. Eastern powers in Europe, the conflicts, and many other outcomes from the contact between the East and the West are also highlighted in the book. Apart from the in-depth insight that the book provides, it also helps the reader to understand why Persia, unlike the other powers of the East, survived in the West and even spread some of its cultural values. The contacts between Persians and Greeks are also discussed in the publication, explaining how Persia brought different ideas to the West.
Synopsis of the book
The book that has been studied in class this semester is not just any publication, but the second volume of the informative works. In the volume, the author examines how Europe was influenced by the East, especially by Persia through spreading its cultural attributes. According to the book, one of the major eastern powers, which spread its forces toward the West is Persia after the Phoenicians who clearly did not have a significant impact on Europe. Unlike the other powers that went to Europe to trade and settle, Persia had political ambitions and, perhaps, the much influence it created. Despite its size, Persia was determined to take some parts of Eastern Europe and make them its own, which is something worth to mention in the Persian history (Ball 87). According to the author, several states, apart from Persia, made their way to Europe, but Persia had something more than the rest to talk about and achieve both short-term and long-term goals. Iranians, for example, had the least influence on Europe and, therefore, are not worth mentioning in this critical historical presentation about the East.
The contacts between Persia and Europe became more popular because, unlike the other states’ contacts that were looked at as conflicts, Persia’s connection was long-lived and never viewed in any way as conflicting. As a matter of fact, the contact is what triggered the relationship between the East and the West, which is what the book explores. Persians primarily interacted with the Greeks, and this benefited even Romans, whose power was raised from the formation of the neo-Persia Kingdom. The existence of Iran as a great power brought about war with the Romans, who were gaining power due to Persia’s contact with the Greeks. The war helped Iran to go the West to counter the spread of Christianity, and it also gave it a chance to terminate religious disorders before the reformation (Ball 79). During this process, Iran contributed ideas that would be used by generations in the future. The ideas are based on a single universe and a sole creator. An ancient Persian civilization built upon these ideas to come up with the idea of a unique world.
Reliability of the author
Being an archaeologist, Warwick Ball is a qualified historian, and this makes this book viable. However, this is disputed owing to his presentations that lack concrete support from historical facts. Anyone who has read the history of the East and the West would, to some extent, not agree with the author because of the complexity with which he has presented his information. Ball was born in Australia and for the last 30 years, he has been practicing as an archaeologist, making him a qualified author of this type of literature, but he might have overlooked his position and capacity in this particular work. He has been a director of an archaeological site in Iraq. Therefore, his writings based on the East, as people might believe, cannot be disputed, but this is not the case. Apart from Towards One World, he has also produced other books in history, archaeology, and even architecture.
Basic theme and interpretation of the book
The primary understanding of this book, according to the author, is founded on the powers in the East and the eastern influence on the West, focusing more on the positive impacts on the East and vice-versa. The author has used historical facts to bring out this theme, but one can argue that some of the information is exaggerated and one-sided (Ball 149). According to Ball, people have been blinded and cannot see the influences that the East has in comparison with the West. This means that he totally believes in the East, and is so bitter because westerners have taken the credit that belongs to easterners. The fact that he is an accomplished archaeologist, having practiced for 30 years, it does not mean that his work is out of criticism. In today’s life, one will be shocked to hear that the West, which is the most developed part of the world, has nothing to do with the East.
This book tends to sympathize with Persians, arguing that historians have not brought out the true picture of Persia in the West. I could not understand the author’s understanding of the wars between the Greeks and Persians, which, according to him do not count as conflicts. To him, the wars were not between the Greeks and Persians, but Persian joined to fight against Athenians and other groups. He also argues that Alexander might not be a Greek hero, since all we read about him comes from sources written by people who had their interests. In fact, all the writings about him were written more than a hundred years after his death. Ball’s idea of Alexander is both harmful and abusive because he sees him as only a tool that led to the destruction of the Persian Empire. Ball’s information of Parthian and Sassanian empires was something I had never heard before, and I took great interest in it, but my research on it did not yield good outcomes. Some other information presented by Ball in this particular book that, when I researched, I ended up being more confused. His story of Christianity flourishing with other religions in Persia, for example, did not make sense to me at all. While all this could have happened, Ball’s presentation of the ideas is not satisfactory, which might leave the reader with many doubts about the book.
Author’s support for his work
The author might be said to be subjective in his information since, despite the fact that he is an archaeologist, he does not support his work with secondary sources. He also tends to debate his points from one particular point of view against another. He, for example, tries to show how the West has been in the East, yet the East is more developed than the West. He utilizes Alexander, the hero of the Greek history, to develop his arguments against people from the West. According to westerners, Alexander is seen as a hero, but he undermines him, terming him as a barbaric destructor who led to the fall of the Persian Kingdom. Although this could be true, he fails by not providing evidence to boost his argument. One might not know to what extent the Ball’s work is authentic, but as a reader, I was left with so many unanswered questions about the information he has provided in the publication.
Author’s opinion
The author seems to have based his writing only on the past, forgetting the significance of the present. The fact that Persia spread some of its cultures to the West does not mean the Persians did not borrow anything from the West. He criticizes historians for writing about Alexander a hundred years after his death, yet he seems to be doing the same thing in his book. He confidently disputes the fact that the two sides can compete in a fair manner, claiming that the East is way too ahead of the West. Well, in the past, this could be true. However, currently, the whole world literacy depends on the West. He also disputes the fact that there were wars between the Greeks and Persians, giving vague information to support his argument. It is possibly true that the East could have controlled the West in the past, but we are no longer living in the past. History is defined as the study of the past and the present. Therefore, one is expected to acknowledge the time he is referring to when making an important conclusion.
Personal opinion and conclusion
When I first started reading the book, I was impressed because of the new information I was getting. I started questioning myself, however, when I got the information that contradicted what I had been taught in class. For example, when I read about Alexander, the great hero, I had to stop reading the book and find some information about the publication, but I got more confused afterwards. I was disappointed that any critic had not analyzed the book, and no review was available. My suspicions were raised further because I was not sure whether the book was valid for my study or not. I had hoped to compare notes of different critics to make a decision about the validity of the information, but all was in vain. As a scholar, however, I decided that I could read the book with an open mind, and that is precisely what I did. Personally, I do not agree with many things that are written in the book, but I would not discourage any interested person from reading it. I concluded that the person, being from the East had issues with the West. Hence, it is notable that he uses biased information about the history of these two blocks. I did not like the way he presented his points of view in favor of one side without considering that the book might be used for scholarly purposes. As an archaeologist, I started reading the book with high hopes that it was going to widen my knowledge on this particular subject, but this did not happen. It is no doubt that the book propagates some historical ideas that may be proved by scientific facts. Nevertheless, the presentation is excessively subjective. I am glad, however, that my history tutor introduced the book to class because it has opened my mind in a great way. As a historian, I have learned a lot from the publication, and I would be the first person to comment on it.
Works Cited
Ball, Warwick. Towards One World: Ancient Persia and the West (Asia in Europe and the Making of the West). New York: Olive Branch Press, 2010. Print.