W H Allen signs ‘radical reimagining’ of the West by prize-winning historian Mac Sweeney 

W H Allen has acquired a “radical, new account of how the idea of the West has shaped our history”, The West: A New History of an Old Idea by professor of classical archaeology and prize-winning historian Naoise Mac Sweeney.

Jamie Joseph, editorial director and head of W H Allen, acquired world English rights from Charlotte Merritt at Andrew Nurnberg Associates for UK publication on 2nd March 2023. US rights have been pre-empted by Dutton, Penguin US, for six figures.

The synopsis reads: “Many of us assume Western civilisation derives from a cultural inheritance that stretches back to classical antiquity, a golden thread that binds us from Plato to NATO. But what if all this is wrong? What if the West is just an idea that has been invented, co-opted and mythologised to serve different purposes through history?

“As battles over privilege, identity and prejudice rock the cultural wars, it’s never been more important to understand how the concept of the West came to be. This book tells a bold, empowering new story of how the idea of the West was created, how it has been used to justify imperialism and racism, and why it’s still a powerful ideological tool to understand our world.”

Mac Sweeney, a professor of classical archaeology at the University of Vienna, whose previous book Troy: Myth, City, Icon (Bloomsbury Academic) was shortlisted for the Prose Award, said: "The ideas in this book have been swirling around my head for ages, and I’m so grateful to Jamie and the whole Ebury team for helping me to pin them down.

“I want my book to finally explode the notion that the West was born in Ancient Greece and continues unbroken to the present day, and explore how this notion has been deployed to justify both imperialism and racial oppression. It’s definitely time for us to rethink Western identity, and we can’t do this if we keep telling ourselves myths about Western civilisation and don’t face up honestly to the real history of the West.”

Joseph added: “Naoise’s book takes an epic sweep through the ages and around the world, but offers a very poignant and pithy new history of the idea behind so much that still shapes our lives. It introduces readers to fascinating historical figures and characters—I can’t wait to publish it.”