The Communitarian

About the Book

Ancient Crete is a puzzle. The islanders of Bronze Age Crete were so far ahead of other societies that their beautiful artistic products were eagerly snapped up by Egyptians and the people along Canaan's coast. They created the first merchant marine in history. Their cities, with paved streets, were the first in Europe. The Great House at Cnossos is one of the most remarkable place of human habitation in the ancient world. The foundation of its 700,000 square feet of comfort and elegance are still standing. They created the first European high civilization. Most astonishing of all their many accomplishments, the people that never knew war. Their thriving cities were not fortified. There are no scenes of warfare in their art and no record of the deeds of mighty kings. Over the entire five-thousand-year history, they remained at peace with their neighbors and all their far-flung trading partners. How did they do it? The answers are revealed in the history of the culture.

About the Author

Now retired and living on the Gulf Coast, Ms Church utilized her academic training in Sociology and History in wirting a three volume work focused on a history of Western cultures. Such a subject was not accepted for her Master's Thesis, since there is neither a recognized method for writing, nor criteria for evaluating such a thesis. After developing a metholdology for her endeavor, nearly two decades of study and writing have been devoted to accomplishing the task, which has never been attempted by anyone. The great lack in Western history is anything approaching an understanding of culture, what it is exactly, and how it changes. Volume 1 focuses on the native society and culture on the island of Crete, where the river of Western civilization can be followed upstream nearly to its source. In Volume II, the cultures of Athens, Jerusalem, and Rome are analyzed chronologically from their most ancient origins to the beginning of the Common Era. From tehse analyses, certain consistent principles of culture change are highlighted in Volume III, which details with Western cultures existing during the Common Era.