Don't buy this book expecting it to be related to Eugen Weber's excellent PBS series of the same name. Instead, it is a collection of historical documents that form the basis of Western thought. Documents range from passages from the Bible, to the US Declaration of Independence and Federalist Papers, to Malthus' treatises on overpopulation. All in all, this is not a bad book to have as a reference to these historical documents. Unfortunately, those hoping for Weber's incisive commentary on the history of the West will have to wait for PBS to rerun the TV series, or will have to buy the series from CPB/Annenberg for.