The 19th century may have bene the most strident age of the grand narrative of Western Civilisaiton and the West. Four-time primeminster William Gladstone inherited this legacy but had his own questions about 'the slave question' and Irish home rule. Activist Edward Said came to challenge the supermacy of the West in his then radical and seminal writings that asked questions we continue to wrangle with today.

Is 'Plato to Nato' actually true? How has the myth of the West and its exclusively European origins been built and maintained? A brilliant and rigorous interpretation of history that reflects the diversity of ideas and figures in the West.

Using the lives of historical figures from ancient Greece to present day, historian Naoise Mac Sweeney interrogates the idea of the West and its claims to Greco-Roman lineage.

Read by Nina Sosanya
Written by Naoise Mac Sweeney
Abridged by Patricia Cumper
Produced by Naomi Walmsley Show less