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History of Western Morals

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Crane Brinton's 1959 "A History of Western Morals" is a wonderful history of what various western civilizations have believed to be right and wrong. Beginning in the ancient mideast and Greece, and continuing up until the middle of the twentieth century, Brinton combines a historian's understanding of the past with a contemporary view of the value of deciding moral issues with reference to the past. He does not shy away from suggesting which moral standpoints have the most value, but only after examining the implications of each historical set of morals. This is not a book that caters to our current lack of historical understanding; you need to know who the players are before starting to read this book (if you know, say, who Luther, Aristotle, and John Stuart Mill are, you'll do fine; otherwise, wait until you've had a class in western civilization in high school or college). Readable by anybody with a background in basic western history, "A History of Western Morals" is one of the most stimulating books I have ever read.