Customer Reviews

Five Cities that Ruled the World: How Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York Shaped Global History

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I received this book as a review copy from the publisher. "Five Cities That Ruled The World" spent about 40 pages per a culture giving a quick overview of thousands of years of history for the Jews, Greeks Romans, and British, and hundreds of years of history for America. Each section was topped off with a very brief summary of the lasting legacy of the corresponding city.

The few pages covering each city's legacy felt more like an afterthought than the focus of the book. The author didn't really build a case for his chosen legacy nor how it impacted the world. These legacies can be easily be summarized as Jerusalem gave the world a spiritual legacy; Athens left a political, philosophical, and arts legacy; Rome gave the world justice under law; London gave the world literature; and New York will leave a commerce and baseball legacy.

Partly because the author tried to summarize each culture's history from its beginning until the present, his history lacks the details and nuances of various events--even the ones he gave the most detail for--so the reader could be left with wrong impressions. He also assumes an ancient chronology that not everyone would agree with (though he does assume the Bible is accurate).

The book was definitely aimed at a Christian audience. However, he often interpreted Scripture in a non-standard way, especially Biblical prophecies. For example, he stated that Rev. 13 referred to Nero's persecution of the Christians during his reign, whereas it's traditionally interpreted as referring to a world leader during the End Times.

The book was written in a very casual tone. For example, when discussing how Herod had "all the baby boys in the area of Bethlehem" killed, he says, "That kind of action will drive your poll numbers down every time."

One nice thing about the book was that it occasionally linked together what was happening in various parts of the world at certain, critical times. However, the book was so general and imprecise that I don't think it would interest history buffs. But those with little familiarity with history who want a quick, very easy-to-read history book might enjoy this book.


Reviewed by Debbie from Different Time, Different Place (differenttimedifferentplace. blogspot. com)

"5 Cities that Ruled the World: How Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London & New York Shaped Global History," is the work of theologian Douglas Wilson, who is a senior fellow of theology at New Saint Andrews College, and is author of numerous books on education, theology, and culture, including: The Case for Classical Christian Education; Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning: An Approach to Distinctively Christian Education (Turning Point Christian Worldview Series); Mother Kirk: Essays and Forays in Practical Ecclesiology, and Angels in the Architecture: A Protestant Vision for Middle Earth; as well as biographies on Anne Bradstreet and John Knox. He is editor of "Credenda/Agenda," a small cultural journal said to be distinguished by its humorous and satirical flavor, and has taught both ethics and logic elsewhere at the college level. He is evidently a highly experienced man, and writer; and it shows in the book at hand, which is easily readable, leavened with humor, and makes apparent his research.

Wilson's thesis is that:
--Jerusalem gave us spiritual liberty,
--Athens gave us democracy,
--Rome gave us law,
--London gave us literature,
-- New York gave us industry and commerce.

Wilson would be the first to say that in a book of this length, covering five separate cities, he cannot really give us complete histories of each. However, those that he does give us are far from satisfactory to me. Just for starters, he fails to mention that each of the above cities, in the time frame he looks at, tolerated slavery. The three ancient cities, of course; but both New York and London had slavery during the 17th and 18th centuries. This has certain moral implications to me.

Furthermore, in my ancient history courses at Cornell University, an outstanding institution of higher learning, I was taught that Athens followed an extremely restrictive policy in granting citizenship: neither immigrants, nor their children could gain it. Some democracy! And Athens is known for a civilization that approved, not only of male homosexuality, but, we are now learning, as its apologists lose control of its archaeological remains, of pedophilia involving young boys. Wilson does not give us even a capsule history of the foundation of Rome, choosing instead to give us that tired old myth about Romulus and Remus, the brothers who were suckled by a wolf. And I would have liked to have learned the most modern theories about this city's foundation, which I either never learned, or don't recall from my ancient history courses at Cornell University; and don't think I should have had to research myself while reading this book. But I do remember from my courses that the Romans were sadistic, bloodthirsty people who still favored human sacrifice to their gods: readers may recall they enjoyed gladiators fighting to the death, and the throwing of Jews and Christians to the lions. Their Caesars were certainly no respecters of law, either; they tended to have themselves declared gods.

In regard to Wilson's chapter on the London gift of literature to the world, he tells us that he is an expert on the works of Shakespeare, while giving us no credentials to back this claim, and insists that the works attributed to Shakespeare were written by Lord de Vere. In regard to New York, and, by extension, the United States, the writer does give us an interesting discussion of the importance of Scottish Presbyterian immigrants to the States. But he gives no mention of some ethnicities that were critical to New York's rise: the luckless black slaves who built its downtown; the Irish, Italian and Jewish immigrants who brought so much with them to the supposed "melting pot" of the city.

What we do get quite a lot of from Wilson is a specifically Evangelical Protestant view of his material. Maybe I should have known enough to expect this from this publisher, but I didn't. And there were times, frankly, that I thought he pushed his views much too far, particularly in a discussion of the building of Jerusalem's second temple in the book's Epilogue.

If I had read this book's Amazon page first, I would have known that the author is a theologian and the publisher a Christian publishing house. The blurb copy gives you no indication of this.

So, thinking this is a history book, it's disconcerting to find that it's a history book with a Christian agenda. Even though a Christian worldview is fine with me, the deception is not. If you're in business to feed the souls of a Christian audience, it seems to me that you're simply trying to snag non-Christian readers (and their dollars) by disguising your true intent. I feel bad for the author, because I'd bet my library that this wasn't his doing.

The book's message is that these five cities serve a symbolic purpose in history, a "history that teaches us to hope" as the publisher puts it. From Jerusalem, people learn spiritual liberty; from Athens, reason and democracy; from Rome, law and justice and liberty's freedoms and limitations; from London, literary imagination; and from New York, commerce and wealth.

There you have it. That IS on the back cover, and it pretty much sums up the book. The author's discussions expand on that skeleton. It is pretty dry. I got no visual pictures of these cities as places to live. They were almost interchangeable to me.

I was puzzled by some of the author's points. For example, he compares Rome's envy of Greek culture with America's envy of British culture. That might have been true at one time, but Britain today? Soccer riots, pub brawls, Benny Hill, Britain's Got Talent. They don't have any lock on high culture. And, his assessment of New York as a financial powerhouse is dated, in light of today's economic meltdown. I question his view that America is a paragon of production (and New York its financial hub)-- I believe we import more than we export.

I was troubled by the subtitle, too. The influence of non-Western cities on global history is totally ignored. The subtitle should say these five cities shaped Western history (unless you want to get into the messy business of colonizing).

The author's epilogue makes a fine sermon for a believer. He preaches that all cities will one day rejoice in the ascendancy of "the City of God." Amen, brother, preach it. Just save it for a different book.

The title thrilled me. The idea of a book offering an overview of five of history's most important cities and how they helped shaped the world is right up my alley.

But this is not the book it purports to be. It delves into five great cities, yes - Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London and New York - but the history it grapples with is largely a spiritual history, not a history of life in these cities or their global influence.

Not that such a book is a problem, in and of itself. Author Douglas Wilson writes in a lively, uplifting style as he looks at aspects of spiritual growth in Western civilization through the lens of these cities. How we developed critical thinking as a culture, art, independence, and so on. It's well-written and at its best very engaging.

The history itself, however, is lacking, and I imagine many readers will be like me, i.e. going into this thinking we're getting a straight history book. But we don't. We never feel as if we truly know these cities. What it was like to live in them, how they interacted with the world, and, shockingly given the book's title, we rarely get a real sense of how they impacted the world in anything other than a spiritual and philosophical way.

A history book exploring the role five cities played in western civilization? Not really. A philosophical book on the changes in western spirituality, as seen through five cites? Yes.

Fine enough for what it is, but both the title and the marketing blurbs paint a much different picture.

First off, it is important to understand that the author is a Senior Fellow of Theology at New Saint Andrews College. He is not a history professor. So, when reading this book, Douglas Wilson intersperses significant Old and New Testament quotes, with a decidedly Christian bias to the writing. In fact, the 5 cities are actually biased to the Western world, and that is probably a more accurate description of the topic. If you go into the book expecting a pure history text, you will be a bit surprised by the Christian emphasis. I certainly was initially.

Now, having said that, the 200 pages are an interesting if cursory read on the 5 cities mentioned - Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London & New York. Wilson's approach credits each with developing a separate portion of the freedoms we enjoy to this day - whether religious, intellectual, legal, literary or economic. The discussions of each city cover the general top level history, a few fun facts, some Christian apologetics and a discussion of people, events and theories that shaped the city and the freedom it brought to Western Civilization.

Obviously, in 200 pages devoted to five major cities, Wilson is unable to get into much depth. However, the substance, while light, is there, and gives the flavor that Wilson intends to support his five freedoms thesis.

The writing style is easy to digest, and Wilson uses humor and occasional satire to make his points. All in all a reasonably enjoyable book once you accept its premises.

What I expected from the description of this book was an argument that the five featured cities -- Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London and New York -- have played a pivotal and important role in the world's history. What I got was a return time and again to Christian history, some Christian philosophy, and a moral agenda. That would be fine except that is not what the book blurb promised.

That isn't the author's fault, often publishers make the decisions about back blurbs and publicity without consulting authors nor do those who make such decisions even read the entire book. The author though can be held accountable for what is in the book itself. In that area, I found it lacking on both the historical front and in terms of focus.

As an ancient historian I think I can see the errors that line the first three chapters where Wilson looks at Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. I strongly disagree with several interpretations of the evidence but beyond that I was annoyed by the quantity of citations and their quality, secondary, modern sources and Christian sources being cited in place of ancient texts themselves for example. Not only that but the chapters wander off of their assigned subjects into general and simplistic historical timelines too frequently.

That problem continued in the chapters on London and New York where I can't make as much comments about historical evidence. However, I never was convinced that London was this center of literature and the financial power of New York City lagged behind the general history and modern commentary.

That is a huge problem in a book that claims it will talk about five urban centers that affected let alone "ruled the world". Important to the Western World, I have no doubt, but I need a lot more evidence to see these cities affecting Africa or Asia beyond the Near East for example. Get away from the religious comments and modern political statements and focus on proving these five cities did indeed "rule the world" for some period in history.

5 CITIES THAT RULED THE WORLD: How Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London & New York Shaped Global History
By Douglas Wilson

OVERVIEW: In Five Cities that Ruled the World, theologian Douglas Wilson uses together in compelling detail, the critical moments birthed in history's most influential cities--Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York.

Wilson issues a challenge to our collective understanding of history with the juxtapositions of freedom and its intrinsic failures; liberty and its deep-seated liabilities. Each revelation beckoning us deeper into a city's story, its political systems, and how it flourished and floundered.

MY REVIEW: Douglas Wilson is a brilliant theologian and writer. He is a senior fellow of theology at New Saint Andrews College. He has taught ethics and logic elsewhere at the college level. He is the author of numerous books on education, theology and culture.

If you are a serious student of history and really want to learn something--you will love this book. I did! I rate this as one of the best books I have read this year. I want to emphasis however, that unless you are a serious student, you will not enjoy this book. Wilson writes in an interesting way and if you are serious about wanting to know about these cities and how they have shaped history you will not want to put this book down.

I have visited and read much about three of the five cities: Jerusalem, Athens and London. From this book I learned many things about these cities I did not know. Someone said, "It's history that teaches us hope." I agree with that. After reading this book I felt inspired, enlightened and encouraged to honor our shared history. I want to contribute to the present and I look to the future with unmistakable hope.

I contend that each of us knows what kind of reader we are. Hopefully then, you will know after reading my review if this is a book for you. It was for me and I recommend it to all like minded readers.

In his book 5 Cities that Ruled the World, Douglas Wilson creates an easy understanding of just how Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London and New York have created some lasting impressions on our current modern age. He breaks each city down, giving a condensed yet thorough history of how they were started, what kept them going, what was their downfall and what made them great. Wilson throws in more than a few little known facts which some day could come in very handy in your next game of trivial pursuit or should you star on Jeopardy. His witty writing makes it an easier read than one would think a book on history could be and quite frankly, you just feel smarter after reading it. From giving background information on wars to the importance of baseball in New York, Wilson shares his deep knowledge in many areas. He ties it closely with biblical teaching, and while I don't agree with all of his theology, I do appreciate his ability to combine "world" history and "Bible" history as I have never really put it together before. I highly recommend this to anyone who has ever wondered how ancient Greek gods, the Reformation, and a man named Constantine could have any sort of influence on our culture here in America.

5 Cities that Ruled the Word by Douglas Wilson attempts to explain the importance and significance of Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York not merely during a specific time period, but their ultimate role in shaping global history. Wilson gives an overview of each city through a single chapter which highlights successes as well as failures and ultimately provides a primary contritbution:

Jerusalem - Spiritual Liberty

Athens - Democracy

Rome - Law and Jusice

London - Literacy and Literature

New York - Free Enterprise

Further, he shares the theological significance of each of these cities weaving scripture reference throughout the text.

As someone who rarely reads historically based texts for pleasure reading, I found this book to be an enjoyable, quick read which provided quite a bit of new information for me. The use of a conversational tone made the text particularly accessible. Although I appreciated the attempt, I found the author's use of humor distracting at times.

Clearly, one cannot have a full understanding of the history of each of these cities (Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York) nor their impact and influence as the result of reading a 200 page book. That being said, 5 Cities that Ruled the Earth provides a good starting point for further exploration and study.

In Five Cities that Ruled the World, theologian Douglas Wilson takes readers through the life of Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, and New York.

Wilson covers the history of the world from Melchizedek to 2009 in five brief and fast moving chapters. With the skill of an experienced teacher, the author highlights the important events while passing over insignificant and boring details. Each chapter concentrates on one city: its origin, its uniqueness, its weakness, its greatness, its influence, and, in most cases, its decline. But whether the city is still strong, as is New York, or has exceeded its "lifespan of greatness," as has Rome, each still profoundly influences our world today.

This is no ho-hum text laden with seemingly unrelated facts and dates. Wilson's history is filled with interesting and amusing anecdotes and humor. But the work is still serious and accurate. What role did each city play in the history of the church? How did freedom and liberty, or the lack thereof, lead to the greatness, or fall, of each city? How did the ideals and philosophies of each city affect the rest of the world? And how do they apply to us today? Wilson also weaves Scripture into each story, and he ends by looking forward to that final great city, the New Jerusalem.

If you are interested in secular or church history, then this book is for you. But you don't have to be a theologian or historian to understand or enjoy it, and you certainly don't have to be either to benefit from it. We know more about the world today by knowing more about the world of yesterday. Five Cities that Ruled the World will whet the appetite for a deeper knowledge of history and Scripture. I recommend it.