The greatest problem with this 1969 BBC documentary series is its name. It really doesn't cover civilization, but only some parts of culture, mostly music, painting, sculpture and architecture with some literature. But science, for example, is only dealt with tangentially. And it really doesn't cover the whole world but only European culture. And West European culture at that, since the important cultural contribution of Eastern European countries like Russia is almost unmentioned. Even the art of places like Scandinavia and the Iberian Peninsula, which most people would include in Western Europe, are barely mentioned. And it only covers the world from the Middle Ages on, with scant mention of the ancient Greco Roman world. So basically, this series is about high culture in a relatively small geographical area, mostly England, France, the Low Countries, Italy and the German speaking world, between the late middle ages up to the beginning of the 20th century. Yet what incredible art was created in those places during that period. In our politically correct age, we would like to believe that every country and every people has contributed equally to world culture. Unfortunately, this is not true. European culture, especially the high culture of the period between the renaissance and around 1900 achieved a depth, a craft, a complexity, a moral seriousness unparalleled in human history. So if you are willing to accept that this TV program is not really about global civilization but about a qualitatively important subset of it, then this is a magnificent TV program.
With his upper class accent, politically conservative views and erudite art knowledge, anchor Kenneth Clark (an art historian of repute) seems almost the stereotype of the English gentlemanly aristocratic scholar. As he visits historical locations in several countries, the stunning color photography, vividly showing us how Western Europe looked during the late 1960s, becomes another considerable plus of this series.
With his upper class accent, politically conservative views and erudite art knowledge, anchor Kenneth Clark (an art historian of repute) seems almost the stereotype of the English gentlemanly aristocratic scholar. As he visits historical locations in several countries, the stunning color photography, vividly showing us how Western Europe looked during the late 1960s, becomes another considerable plus of this series.