“Western civilization” is a catchall term that is often used as a cudgel against whatever the user thinks is abhorrent or backward, so it is intellectually exhilarating to read Naoíse Mac Sweeney’s deconstruction of what is really meant by that label and how it became corrupted. By focusing on 14 lives, starting with Herodotus and including Francis Bacon and Edward Said, the author demonstrates how the grand narrative of what constitutes “civilization” has changed over time, and that it behooves us to create a fresh vision that belongs not to a particular ethnic group or country but exemplifies what is the “beating heart” of what truly constitutes Western civilization: mobility and cultural transmissibility.
Luckily for Tom Begnal, there are plenty of people who love to read about where certain incidents happened in Manhattan, and he has done a fine job describing the places that deserve a historical marker, from where the mobster Joe Gallo got killed (Umberto’s Clam House, which has since moved, its location now occupied by a restaurant called Da Gennaro) to the birthplace of Thomas’ English Muffins (yep, invented by a baker named Thomas, on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea). Some of the 24 stories are more familiar than others, but Begnal has such an engaging style and so deftly brings the reader up-to-date on what those locations are like today that Here in Manhattanis a worthy guide to the city you know you love best.
