Civilization

In 1969, the BBC presented viewers with the documentary series «Civilization: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark». Skeptics were puzzled: who, indeed, in the 60s could be interested in Lord Clark's views on the history of Western civilization — an... art historian, nearly the same age as the century, a learned aesthete, a lover of tweed suits, and the owner of his own castle (which didn't even have a television)? The skeptics were proven wrong: the series broke all records for popularity, marked the beginning of a genre, and Clark, with his refined speech and aristocratic pronunciation, became a favorite of the public. In the same 1969, a collection of the series' scripts was published as a book, which immediately became a bestseller, translated into many languages, and is still regularly reissued both in England and in other countries. Now, with the passage of years, it is even more evident that thanks to his truly phenomenal erudition, Kenneth Clark tackled an incredibly complex task. He masterfully and effortlessly guides his viewers — and readers — from country to country, from epoch to epoch, as if placing mosaic pieces into place, weaving together ideas, books, buildings, works of art, and great people, creating an intricate and captivating picture of «civilization as seen by Clark».