s07e24 | The Cool Kids Are Alt-Right, with Rudyard Lynch, aka WhatIfAltHist

This book traces the history of the myth of disenchantment in the development of philosophy, anthropology, sociology, folklore, psychoanalysis, and religious studies. Josephson-Storm argues that the founding figures of these disciplines were not only aware of but deeply involved in the occult and spiritualist movements of their time. He contends that the myth of a disenchanted modern world was constructed in response to these occult revivals, and that magic and enchantment have never truly disappeared from modern society. The book provides a nuanced history of Western thought, showing that magic and secularism have coexisted and influenced each other in complex ways.

In this book, McNeill challenges the Spengler-Toynbee view that separate civilizations developed independently. Instead, he argues that human cultures have interacted at every stage of their history, with major social changes triggered by new or newly important foreign stimuli. The narrative is divided into three parts: the beginnings of civilization in Mesopotamia to 500 B.C. , the cultural balance of Eurasia from 500 B.C. to 1500 A.D. , and the era of Western dominance since 1500 A.D. McNeill highlights the interplay between cultural, political, and economic factors of each civilization and how they influenced each other. The book also includes a retrospective essay where McNeill discusses how his work was shaped by the time it was written and suggests revisions based on subsequent developments in historiography.

This volume of 'The Story of Civilization' by Will Durant chronicles the history of European civilization during the period of the Reformation, from 1300 to 1564. It covers the schism within the Roman Catholic Church, the formation of early Protestantism, the theology of Martin Luther, the rise of Humanism and the life of Desiderius Erasmus, and the royal monarchies of England, France, Spain, and Italy. The book also discusses the imperial conquests of Christopher Columbus, the discovery of the Americas, the Bohemian revolution in Eastern Europe, the unification of Russia, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire. Durant provides a balanced view of the religious and political changes of the era, including the teachings of John Calvin and the Counter-Reformation of the 16th century.