Introduction: The importance of origins
The rejection of purity: Herodotus
The Asian Europeans: Livilla
The global heirs of antiquity: Al-Kindī
The Asian Europeans again: Godfrey of Viterbo
The illusion of Christendom: Theodore Laskaris
The reimagining of antiquity: Tullia D'Aragona
The path not trodden: Safiye Sultan
The West and knowledge: Francis Bacon
The West and empire: Njinga of Angola
The West and politics: Joseph Warren
The West and race: Phyllis Wheatley
The West and modernity: William Ewart Gladstone
The West and its critics: Edward Said
The West and its rivals: Carrie Lam
Conclusion: The shape of history.
