Western Civilization

A digital library of more than 1 million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, & social sciences.

Search for biographies based on name, birth and death year, nationality, ethnicity, occupation, or gender.

Full text encyclopedias, non-fiction books, leading history periodicals, historical documents, biographies, historical photos, maps, and video.

Core journals in key fields in the humanities and social sciences.

Information relating to all branches of the military and government.

Coverage of world religions, biblical studies, religious history, epistemology, political philosophy, moral philosophy and the history of philosophy.

Articles, reference works, timelines, maps, and images on world history from BCE to the present.

The Western world fears attacks from fanatics, fears being left behind by a more dynamic Asian civilization, fears that anonymous bureaucrats control one's destiny.

The Battle of Marathon, Persia’s campaign against Greece in the aftermath of the Ionian revolt; the Battle of Salamis; Pericles, “the first citizen of Athens”; and the building of the Parthenon

This A&E Special begins at the rat-infested ships that brought the bubonic plague as it tells the story of the Black Death—a scourge that penetrated peasant huts and the papal palace alike.

Roman, Gothic, Baroque, and Rococo religious art, along with Christian iconography, are examined as reflections of the religious and political attitudes of the periods in which they were created.

Cosimo I’s rise to power, propelled by vast ambition and well-founded obsession with his own security; also his connection to Vasari, one of the first art historians, and the relationship that developed between later generations of Medici dukes and the scientific community.

Explores the reasons why the Germanic peoples left their homeland, their traditions and beliefs, and illustrates the clashes of arms and of culture that marked the first contacts between Roman and "barbarus".