It's also currently being repeated on BBC Four, strangely enough. I think they have got to episode 7, so far, but I assume this will mean it is soon to be available in full on the iplayer. I was very surprised, as I thought they didn't approve of such things as Western Civilisation.
@@PrincipledUncertainty I'm told they have put popular historian Mary Beard at the beginning of it to tell us that it doesn't reflect contemporary BBC values.
As I listen at this noble, measured and erudite art history professor, I feel a mixture of joy and sadness. Joy because K. Clark opened my eyes (there in the eighties when I was a curious boy) and showed me the magnificent achievements of Western Christian civilization. Sadness because the mass media, academics, entertainment industry and politicians compete to belittle, ridicule, destroy and deny our common roots and achievements. As a proud Westerner, stubborn Catholic and middel-aged art historian I can only say: God, how low we have fallen.
Low? For a bunch of monkey troops forced out of the trees and onto the savannah 250k years ago because of climate change; I think we've done spectacularly better than we had a right to expect. We've just run out the string. The traits that enabled our original survival, turn out to be downright suicidal now.
Clark is in himself a work of civilisation. Elegant, intellectual, cultured, refined, he is the epitome of what it means to be a civilised human being and gentleman. .
Born in the Scottish Highlands in a wealthy family. Educated in the classical manner. And what do you get. Not a waster or indulgent drunk. On the contrary supremely eloquent man whose capacity to make clear distinctions between things and share his insight and knowledge that is as entertaining as it is informing. Demands reflection by all who see it, maturing and refining us all. Truly wonderful….
@@tuckerbugeater It's truly amazing to know there is a person alive on this planet who would use the term "betabux" unironically. What a fascinating creature you are. You should be in a tank in some exhibit somewhere.
Woh, woh, woh! There's information in the History Channel's Ancient Aliens! Just kidding, just kidding. Modern documentaries are a complete joke. More concerned with a diverse set of "authorities" than actual education. Pathetic.
The first ten minutes are pure genius, it describes and explains everything about civilisation’s life cycle, how civilisation’s ethics and principles are put into art. It describes our modern times perfectly as well. This must be shown to every person since childhood, for it is a solid base for future taste development.
@@cthoadmin7458 Yes, and after the demise of prog. rock, civilization has fallen in much of the West-a new dark age of tattooed, feckless low achievers, or Greenies dictating our expensive futures-see episode two above and the cycle of warming and cooling that the Greenies ignore. Who is right, wrong?
I watched this and was spellbound. Hated school. Had a number of jobs. After this became immersed in fine art, literature and classical music. Gave direction and great joy which hasn’t ceased. In my 70s now…
I read Clark's autobiography years ago. He said something in it that I have found true again and again. He said he thought that the level of civility in a room went down when the men went off with the men and the women went off with the women. We need more civil interaction between men and women. That's civilization too.
The first time I saw Civilization documentary I was a kid. The Spanish dubbing was great in the wonderful voice of the late Mexican American actor Claudio Brook. Then as a young adult I saw it again carefully admiring Clark’s dogma-free phrases, elegant, calm, and not less insightful which was his trademark. Now at 63 years old I saw with deep sadness how both America and Western Europe mainstream opinion often repudiate their cultural heritage instead of being deeply grateful for that. Some intellectuals such as Adorno, Marcuse et al. put in motion all this followed by French postmodernist (I think Clark was aware of that trend at the time). The toxic mania of making sociology about everything became colleague syllabus and then in the following decades those attitudes spread all over institutions and society in a sort of trickle down effect. Despite their convoluted theoretical views cannot be popular by themselves, the attitudes those intellectuals pushed for are what counts at the end to the point of becoming common place these days. Most of these Uber critics and repudiators do not realize that deep down they took western civilization benefits for granted; they simply cannot imagine a world with a different set of assumptions. I know very well what I’m talking about. Greetings from Mexico.
Hear hear!!! Cultural Marxism is a poison infecting our whole public discourse. I remember watching this too, in the innocent days when we were not called ‘far right bigots’ for loving our Western culture!
Thanks for putting this series up, hombre. It does rather put one's day to day problems in their place and remind us of what continues to makes the West great. "Salve" from rural Spain, where the olive oil still flows on terraces built under the Romans.
Someone once asked Sir Kenneth Clark what inspired him to do civilization...he said civilization is superior to barbarism and someone ought to say so. 😎
Too bad he could never acknowledge the full barbarity of Western civilization. Some of the things he says are naive to the point of being offensive, or else just smugly offensive. I realize it was 50 years ago but not everyone was that blinkered or unwilling to see the lacunas and flaws in his "timeline". The reason to watch this whole video is to see how different the places featured looked at that time compared to now. I could weep for the amount of birdsong you can hear in the background, for example. Now it's all gone silent, the villages and old ways of life completely disappeared. Developments and pollution have taken over where in those days nature flourished untroubled by neoliberalist expansionism. I also wonder what someone who could say "cap-IT-alism" would think of Sunak's post-Brexit England. Surely even he'd have to admit British "civilization" was a thing of the unrecoverable past.
@@MAKOBITEWestern civilization isn’t barbaric. The west has been struggling to grow out of its obsession with principles of adopting monarchic, aristocratic, or oligarchic leadership. Century after century western ruling classes continue to adopt essentially selfish economic systems, as they still remain intoxicated by the privilege entailed by the conviction of their essential aristocracy, however they believe they have come by it, and have adopted such ever more clever and exploitative economic systems to enforce the socio-economic hierarchy that enables their rule. Western egalitarian justice and secular political values have been slowly growing and struggling to overcome the hierarchical aristocratic values and superstitious religions that help reinforce the hierarchy under the influence of the western truly civilizing thinkers. It’s the west that has brought these civilizing values into the world in the first place, in dialectical opposition to the ideology of the ruling class. The fact that we still struggle to overcome the exploitative values of hierarchies enforced by violence shouldn’t be mistaken for the essential nature of western civilization itself, nor should it be assumed that other cultures have some moral or ethical superiority to the west due their having solved these problems already and being the innocent victims of western barbarism. The west’s advanced material and economic technologies simply makes the impact of the failures of the west to have yet to defeat its own hierarchical aristocratic impulses to be so much more profound. Other cultures have also developed hierarchical and exploitative social structures, sometimes highly sophisticated and brutal ones. In fact the west seems to be unique so far in inventing the notion of “progress”, part of which is the encouragement of increased egalitarian social justice to overcome the aristocratic impulse itself.
@@B_Estes_Undegöetz Uh huh. As I don't waste time on internet comments I'll leave you to your delusions of western grandeur as the sun sets on humanity.
If anyone is interested I have a copy of this saved to my playlist. There you will find a link in the description section where you can either download or watch the rest of the files from 1-13. Enjoy
Did you click on the link of the website? Once on the website scroll down and click on the MPEG4 FILES. You can just watch them without having to download them. It should just open & play. I just tried it & it is working fine. Let me know how you get on. 🙂
Western civilisation is to be celebrated. Yes there were some bad aspects, but on the whole it dragged whole populations from grinding poverty, short lifespan, constant war and misery. A constant struggle just to stay alive.
Absolute nonsense. If anything western civilisation has caused more war. Every world war has been started. By the west you guys are the most violent. Silly comment
What a disgrace the west has become. Meek and weak. We have allowed the left to essentially take over. We need to speak up and fight back or we lose what so many died for.... freedom.
@@craigpoernot true at all. There haven't been any major scientific discoveries since the 70s. Maths is dead, physics is dead,philosophy is dead. We now have institutes that govern these fields and have a monopoly of any new discovery. Think of going to the moon, boeing 727, DC 8, semiconductors, etc Only minor improvement... Nothing like the bi plane to jet plane in 50 years. From 90s onwards, there's nothing but financialization and monetary expansion. Western civilisation peaked!
The university here had Sunday afternoon showings on their projection equipment back when these were new which I had to assume was 16mm and the ratio is the same as what you see. The theatre setting with the much larger screen I thought was a great experience-- my concentration better, everything. I don't know if those film rentals went around to many schools. Gratitude for bringing them to RUclips for more to enjoy.
Thanks to the bbc and their decision to meddle with this, to change and put warnings on it because it doesn't meet with modern "sensibilities", I rediscovered this masterpiece, and then immediately forked out for a bluray copy. It doesn't not get better than this, to teach our story, our history.
@@nectarinedreams7208 He was a man of his time and it's impossible to think what he would have thought of today. Such a series would not even be made today as this is the the brave nu-bbc and they all follow the script nowadays, and they have learnt absolutely nothing from the series he made in the late 60s as western society repeats late Rome.
I know this is an older video, but I just wanted to thank you for posting this because it has inspired me to purchase the whole series for homeschooling. This series is what technology SHOULD be used for rather than the twaddle being put out today.
Back when we weren't afraid to admit that the west is the best. It brings me great sadness to see what has happened. Western countries are still the only places in the world that other people are trying to break into to be a part of. You never hear about Americans immigrating to India, or Pakistan or Iran etc. Yet, we in the west are taught to believe we are evil and to never be proud of our heritage. I pray there comes a day again where the west is proud that it is still the best.
I learned recently that this entire series was commissioned by David Attenborough to show off BBC2's new color broadcasting. When seen through that lens, this series makes so much more sense. Some people who haven't seen it (including my younger self) think it's a xenophobic or uncaring to other cultures, but after the first episode the question of who is 'civilized' and who is not is really dropped altogether. Clark made a series on Western art because that was his expertise; the civilization question was really just a device to tie the series together. I find his commentary balanced and refreshingly honest, especially his critique of the obtuseness of modern art. When taken for what it is, a series on art to show the possibilities of color TV, with amazing cinematography and thoughtful commentary, it's an enthralling and still poignant piece of art itself.
4:02 Great Works of Art. 4:20 The Prowl of A Viking Ship. 4:49 A Higher State of Civilization. 5:40 Myth, Dance & Song, 5:56 9:07 Confidence. Vitality. Weight of Energy. 15:54 Christians and Pagans.
It's a real pleasure to listen to someone speaking a very good english and on interesting subjects into the bargain. Early invasions were nothing compared to what happens now in the western world.At the end of the 6th century, under Justinian's rule, byzantine wonders were already created. At the current rate of degradation, nothing will remain in 2 centuries.
If I remember this LONG series 'a personal view' ends with the only time he really gives his personal view 😂 Very English. Well done lad. I shall enjoy watching again.
Currently halfway through the first episode, this is great. Thank you for uploading. 👍 I'm in Canada so will have to find a VPN or something for the next 2 videos.
One of the greatest tv series ever made.Without getting into a long debate about Sociology:Or the Post modernists:and it being the antithesis of the likes of Kenneth Clarke.There is a place for both if we are to understand the World we live in today and appreciate the past good and bad.I don’t like the way we are now with either a right or wrong view amongst everyone everywhere.We should share and debate,not close off each other’s opinions and perspectives. Right that’s out of the way and can get back to watching 👀
Yes, this old fashioned, highly educated man of his type has almost died out. He did, however, have his blind spots. He does not mention Spain's contribution-the courts of Asturias, Leon, Galicia and the vibrancy that once was the fusing of the best of Christian and Islamic cultures in Grenada, despite the persecutions, there. He would have also understood 'chivalry' if he had studied the life of El Cid and the folk legends attached to him!
Wrong. That's just CGI effects they used back then to make it look like they spent longer on such aspects. They did something called slowing down which is also known as slow motion in order to make it look like they allowed for such aspects. You can see this in the deleted scenes on the Blu Ray copy. Clark signed a few copies for my cousin, who was in rehab with him. They said he's OK but keeps talking about how how Liszt is better than Chopin
why are you being subversive? Let me be emphatic: Christian culture and influence is responsible for 95 percent of the architectural basis and influence in Western Civilization. Greco-Roman origins but don't try that.
I suggest everyone read or listen to Gibbon. He's a hoot! Really. Probably the one modern dude that showed how history can be enjoyable and necessary ... learning things is fun! I also really really really love to listen to the William and Ariel Durant books! And the BBCs multiparty WW1 1963 doc, narrated by Michael Redgrave. SUPERB. More modern masterpieces. Karnow's Vietnam PBS doc...circa 1976... Ken Burns everything... What say you Doc lovers worldwide...what are your faves?!!!
my grandfather who was from Palestine and came to New York harbor in 1910 used to say " dem english speak funny ". i read that in London centuries ago the average person that lived in London and traveled into the countryside could not understand the speech of the rural people . I used to watch a series or soap opera called the East Enders broad cast by the BBC that were about English people in a poor area of London on the east side and i could barely understand there accent it was so thick .
@@markbahouth2713EastEnders is still going and is still very popular! It's an east end/cockney accent of the London working classes. It's still true that someone from London might go to Newcastle in the north or to Glasgow in Scotland and not be able to understand their accent.
Our illegitimate rulers let them all in! Primarily because in the 60’s & 70’s they decided it would be posh to reduce our fertility rates through price inflation and birth control…then they realized they were shrinking the tax base, so they began bringing in migrants in the mid 90’s so that each proceeding administration didn’t have to shrink its budget. It really is quite that simple.
Some of _Star Wars_ was shot on Skellig island. That feels appropriate, somehow. _Star Wars_ is, after all, about the rebirth of a civilisation after the rise and fall of an empire.
Totalmente de acuerdo paisano, Claudio Brook tenía una voz portentosa me gusta más esta serie narrada por él que por el Sr. Clark saludos desde Tepoztlán.
For anyone wondering what post-modernism is: it is the exact opposite of everything seen here. I don't mean postmodernist don't like the aqueducts or Leonardo DaVinci drawings. Rather, the spirit of postmodern is a refusal adopt the hierarchical value structure used by thinkers like Clark to designate and venerate one kind of history, culture, or artwork over another. The approach in this documentary looks so passé and rotten this far into the 21st century. Check out Thomas Mcevilley's "Shape of Ancient Thought," "Art and Discontent," and "Art and Otherness."
Clark 8:00 - "What are [Civilizations] enemies? First of all fear, fear of War, fear of invasion, fear of plague, fears that make it simply not worthwhile constructing things or planting trees or even planting Nexus crops, and fear of the supernatural, which means that you don't question anything or change anything." Religious Conservatives in the comments - "ThE bArBaRiaNs aRe at the gAtEs aGaIn, tHiNgs wErE bEtteR iN tHe pAst hUr" It's like many of your didn't even watch this series and actually pay attention to Clark's arguments.
Too bad someone doesn’t have all 13 episodes; 5 is much better than nothing though 😊
ruclips.net/video/lqooq37E4HQ/видео.htmlsi=ZCdBYnBmqaTgiORW
ruclips.net/video/YEre-ThpjvI/видео.htmlsi=9Ay46BR2G4Wid3c3
It's also currently being repeated on BBC Four, strangely enough. I think they have got to episode 7, so far, but I assume this will mean it is soon to be available in full on the iplayer. I was very surprised, as I thought they didn't approve of such things as Western Civilisation.
@@PrincipledUncertainty I'm told they have put popular historian Mary Beard at the beginning of it to tell us that it doesn't reflect contemporary BBC values.
I have all the DVDs. (Remember those?) 🙂
This is what Television should be like.
Television can and should be many different and equally good things. Dont forget to take your pills, grandad. But. We love you still.
@@AndreyRubtsovRU Disrespectful & bitter woke runt...you can swap out the 'r' in runt if you like.
@@AndreyRubtsovRU one does not need to be old to recognize true art.
@@AndreyRubtsovRU fix yourself. 😅
@@AndreyRubtsovRUwell said
This might be one of the very best television productions of all time.
Certainly recreates the incessant adverts from back then on ITV! Smfh
Jacob Bronowski was also one of these makers of just perfect (Imho) programmes - Carl Sagan also good.
Yes, I see your point but, for me the greatest is still Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister!
@@catallaxy You may say that, but I couldn't possibly comment.
@@taxpayer1040the Ascent of Man is one of my favorites too, Bronowsky was awesome!
As I listen at this noble, measured and erudite art history professor, I feel a mixture of joy and sadness. Joy because K. Clark opened my eyes (there in the eighties when I was a curious boy) and showed me the magnificent achievements of Western Christian civilization.
Sadness because the mass media, academics, entertainment industry and politicians compete to belittle, ridicule, destroy and deny our common roots and achievements. As a proud Westerner, stubborn Catholic and middel-aged art historian I can only say:
God, how low we have fallen.
Silvije Pranjič.... BRILLIANT... l agree.... so sad
Low? For a bunch of monkey troops forced out of the trees and onto the savannah 250k years ago because of climate change; I think we've done spectacularly better than we had a right to expect. We've just run out the string. The traits that enabled our original survival, turn out to be downright suicidal now.
@@radman1136 Deus Vult Little Man What Now?
@@radman1136 The destruction is deliberate the aim is global slavery enforced by AI.The fall is from within via prole infighting.
Kierkegaard's leveling
UK television had just gone over to colour and this was a monumental celebration of this transition
Pics, or it didn't happen!
now they show coloureds on the color!
@@haltungsprechen as long as they don’t run, eh?
@@sgtplop23 years. It is a great piece of television.
Lets go back to black and white
Clark is in himself a work of civilisation. Elegant, intellectual, cultured, refined, he is the epitome of what it means to be a civilised human being and gentleman.
.
AMEN, well said! 🌟👍❤✊.
Born in the Scottish Highlands in a wealthy family. Educated in the classical manner. And what do you get. Not a waster or indulgent drunk.
On the contrary supremely eloquent man whose capacity to make clear distinctions between things and share his insight and knowledge that is as entertaining as it is informing. Demands reflection by all who see it, maturing and refining us all. Truly wonderful….
The relevance of Clarke’s comments to the 2024 reality is astonishing.
YES. Western Civ is like forbidden knowledge now.
Uk is on the brink of civil war now. Riots in almost all major cities and muslim mobs mobilizing
Yes, I see a similarity in the beautiful early gold work to Trump's golden apartment.
It was even more relevant when he first made the comments!
wow, so true!
This whole production is like a meditation
That Greek poet kavafis... What a mind.
"The barbarians.. they were a kind of solution "
@@Odowasaniceguy still better than being an erudite betabux simp
@@tuckerbugeater It's truly amazing to know there is a person alive on this planet who would use the term "betabux" unironically. What a fascinating creature you are. You should be in a tank in some exhibit somewhere.
This series is stunning. I was smitten as a teenager when I watched it when it came out and it's always held a special place in my heart.
A real, cultured, urbane gentleman's voice. A thing of the past.
I don’t think gentlemen are violent.
AMEN!
Intelligent and respectable people still exist and always will, thankfully.
Back then, when documentaries had actual *information* in them.
Woh, woh, woh! There's information in the History Channel's Ancient Aliens!
Just kidding, just kidding. Modern documentaries are a complete joke. More concerned with a diverse set of "authorities" than actual education. Pathetic.
The first ten minutes are pure genius, it describes and explains everything about civilisation’s life cycle, how civilisation’s ethics and principles are put into art. It describes our modern times perfectly as well. This must be shown to every person since childhood, for it is a solid base for future taste development.
Yes, and he makes the point that it may seem mighty and permanent but can all be lost so quickly.
@@cthoadmin7458 Yes, and after the demise of prog. rock, civilization has fallen in much of the West-a new dark age of tattooed, feckless low achievers, or Greenies dictating our expensive futures-see episode two above and the cycle of warming and cooling that the Greenies ignore. Who is right, wrong?
Here we are in 2024 and western civilization seems to be on its deathbed.
Only bad part is that for one civilization to prosper, it seems it must be at the detriment to all others, eh?
I love how he starts almost mid thought. No 10 minute montage describing where the presenter is from and all the places he will go. Right into it.
I find introductions to be so annoying and boring. I like this.
And also no "going on a journey" BS.
What a generous gift he has left for us. Much gratitude for his connoisseurship , humanity, and subtle wit .
I watched this and was spellbound. Hated school. Had a number of jobs. After this became immersed in fine art, literature and classical music.
Gave direction and great joy which hasn’t ceased. In my 70s now…
This series is stunning. I was smitten as a teenager when I watched it when it came out and it's always held a special place in my heart.
I’m watching it at 18, I’m not really the target audience but I was reading Albert Camus as 12.
@@agh7185
Well you've definitely been off to a good start 🙂💖
Well, that was edifying - now, back to ‘The Kardashians’ three-day marathon...
Hahaha
I initially thought this was going to be a critique on Sid Meier's tech tree choices...
Time to go back to my three hour Philosophy Tube video about pronouns
Redneck Haiku: Set your VCRs! / "Dukes of Hazzard" marathon / Starts at 8 p.m.
Don't make us throw up.
This series is dripping with culture!
Amazing. Thanks for posting.
I love this series. I worked in a university AV library and borrowed the whole set over holidays. Amazing.
This is increadibly calming and awe inspiring. This is television at its best and the reason why people were willing to pay fees
Confidence in one's neighbors, and the desire to improve life for others is civilization
one's
disagree on the latter
Ya, it's probably too broad of a term and could mean anything.
@@Hoosier765 I think infrastructure has to be part of the definition. we'd still be in the jungle
I read Clark's autobiography years ago. He said something in it that I have found true again and again. He said he thought that the level of civility in a room went down when the men went off with the men and the women went off with the women. We need more civil interaction between men and women. That's civilization too.
We may be at the precipice again. Thank you for this.
well into it
The first time I saw Civilization documentary I was a kid. The Spanish dubbing was great in the wonderful voice of the late Mexican American actor Claudio Brook. Then as a young adult I saw it again carefully admiring Clark’s dogma-free phrases, elegant, calm, and not less insightful which was his trademark. Now at 63 years old I saw with deep sadness how both America and Western Europe mainstream opinion often repudiate their cultural heritage instead of being deeply grateful for that. Some intellectuals such as Adorno, Marcuse et al. put in motion all this followed by French postmodernist (I think Clark was aware of that trend at the time). The toxic mania of making sociology about everything became colleague syllabus and then in the following decades those attitudes spread all over institutions and society in a sort of trickle down effect. Despite their convoluted theoretical views cannot be popular by themselves, the attitudes those intellectuals pushed for are what counts at the end to the point of becoming common place these days. Most of these Uber critics and repudiators do not realize that deep down they took western civilization benefits for granted; they simply cannot imagine a world with a different set of assumptions. I know very well what I’m talking about. Greetings from Mexico.
So true Rodrigo. So much of how we feel is affected by the perpetual ego-shield that is hubris
Commonplace among a small, hysterical minority. Influential only if you allow them to be so.
Hear hear!!! Cultural Marxism is a poison infecting our whole public discourse.
I remember watching this too, in the innocent days when we were not called ‘far right bigots’ for loving our Western culture!
We just call them marxists
They take the benefits of Western civilization for granted, and don’t think it will disappear if they repudiate it.
Great service you're providing here.
Thank you Douglas. What a little gem.
Why "Thank you Douglas" ?
@@davidt1168 ugh douglas murray i think
That's what i thought too. Just wondering.....
Yes, Douglas Murray. I have added the details in my playlist in the description where to watch the rest of the files from 6-13. Enjoy
I've only seen the first ten minutes but I'm already happy the algorithm brought me here.
Kenneth Mackenzie Clark
13 July, 1903 - 21 May, 1983
He lived. He Died. He left nothing.
Greatest Generation
What a gem! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for posting
Thanks for putting this series up, hombre. It does rather put one's day to day problems in their place and remind us of what continues to makes the West great. "Salve" from rural Spain, where the olive oil still flows on terraces built under the Romans.
Someone once asked Sir Kenneth Clark what inspired him to do civilization...he said civilization is superior to barbarism and someone ought to say so. 😎
Great line ❤
Too bad he could never acknowledge the full barbarity of Western civilization. Some of the things he says are naive to the point of being offensive, or else just smugly offensive. I realize it was 50 years ago but not everyone was that blinkered or unwilling to see the lacunas and flaws in his "timeline". The reason to watch this whole video is to see how different the places featured looked at that time compared to now. I could weep for the amount of birdsong you can hear in the background, for example. Now it's all gone silent, the villages and old ways of life completely disappeared. Developments and pollution have taken over where in those days nature flourished untroubled by neoliberalist expansionism. I also wonder what someone who could say "cap-IT-alism" would think of Sunak's post-Brexit England. Surely even he'd have to admit British "civilization" was a thing of the unrecoverable past.
@@MAKOBITEWestern civilization isn’t barbaric. The west has been struggling to grow out of its obsession with principles of adopting monarchic, aristocratic, or oligarchic leadership. Century after century western ruling classes continue to adopt essentially selfish economic systems, as they still remain intoxicated by the privilege entailed by the conviction of their essential aristocracy, however they believe they have come by it, and have adopted such ever more clever and exploitative economic systems to enforce the socio-economic hierarchy that enables their rule.
Western egalitarian justice and secular political values have been slowly growing and struggling to overcome the hierarchical aristocratic values and superstitious religions that help reinforce the hierarchy under the influence of the western truly civilizing thinkers. It’s the west that has brought these civilizing values into the world in the first place, in dialectical opposition to the ideology of the ruling class. The fact that we still struggle to overcome the exploitative values of hierarchies enforced by violence shouldn’t be mistaken for the essential nature of western civilization itself, nor should it be assumed that other cultures have some moral or ethical superiority to the west due their having solved these problems already and being the innocent victims of western barbarism. The west’s advanced material and economic technologies simply makes the impact of the failures of the west to have yet to defeat its own hierarchical aristocratic impulses to be so much more profound. Other cultures have also developed hierarchical and exploitative social structures, sometimes highly sophisticated and brutal ones. In fact the west seems to be unique so far in inventing the notion of “progress”, part of which is the encouragement of increased egalitarian social justice to overcome the aristocratic impulse itself.
@@B_Estes_Undegöetz Uh huh. As I don't waste time on internet comments I'll leave you to your delusions of western grandeur as the sun sets on humanity.
The barbarians replaced the exhausted energy of the romans, as the romans replaced the exhausted energy of the Greeks.
Wow, thank you very much for posting.
If anyone is interested I have a copy of this saved to my playlist. There you will find a link in the description section where you can either download or watch the rest of the files from 1-13. Enjoy
But they are hidden 😥😥
Did you click on the link of the website? Once on the website scroll down and click on the MPEG4 FILES. You can just watch them without having to download them. It should just open & play. I just tried it & it is working fine. Let me know how you get on. 🙂
Thank you, I'll dl them. Great. 😊
That is a rather excellent channel you have there! Thank you so much for collecting all that and sharing it.
Too excellent a series to be shown today.
It is being shown today on BBC4. So there’s that.
My goodness what s treasure, what a work ! Appreciate this so much.
Same here. Thank you. Unfortunately, I can't access other parts.
Western civilisation is to be celebrated. Yes there were some bad aspects, but on the whole it dragged whole populations from grinding poverty, short lifespan, constant war and misery. A constant struggle just to stay alive.
Absolute nonsense. If anything western civilisation has caused more war. Every world war has been started. By the west you guys are the most violent. Silly comment
Was fortunate enough to have studied this along with Bronowski's "Ascent of Man" as an elective course in high school.
What year?
Great documentary!! Thank you for sharing. One of youtube treasures.
Awesome! Thanks a lot for posting! And screw BBC! Tried watching the other two videos, and they are in fact blocked for me.
I watched as a nine yr old. Thanks mum
Thanks for posting this!
Unlike the BBC, there is no need here for trigger warnings! Great series
What a disgrace the west has become. Meek and weak. We have allowed the left to essentially take over. We need to speak up and fight back or we lose what so many died for.... freedom.
Bah! 🤖
Why? Do trigger warnings trigger you?
@@randyt3558 You have a searing wit. Thank you, Oscar Wilde
A legendary series. My parents had the book. I can’t believe how long ago this was. Still magnificent though.
we definetely stepped down as a civilization since 1969
Life now is unrecognizable. Hard to believe in 50 years how much has changed
definitely
@@craigpoer Bring back the 1550s. God bless the real Queen Mary.
since the French revolution.
@@craigpoernot true at all. There haven't been any major scientific discoveries since the 70s. Maths is dead, physics is dead,philosophy is dead. We now have institutes that govern these fields and have a monopoly of any new discovery.
Think of going to the moon, boeing 727, DC 8, semiconductors, etc
Only minor improvement... Nothing like the bi plane to jet plane in 50 years.
From 90s onwards, there's nothing but financialization and monetary expansion.
Western civilisation peaked!
Thank you so much for everything good you gave us.
"The Romanesque Carvers were like a school of Dolphins" - what a quote!
I missed this first time around, on TV.
As good as I expected.
Thanks.
Such a great series -- thanks for the upload!
The university here had Sunday afternoon showings on their projection equipment back when these were new which I had to assume was 16mm and the ratio is the same as what you see. The theatre setting with the much larger screen I thought was a great experience-- my concentration better, everything. I don't know if those film rentals went around to many schools. Gratitude for bringing them to RUclips for more to enjoy.
Thank you VERY much GoldenThread !!!
This is excellent thank you for sharing this with us.
I haven't seen this in years. My view of the world comes from this documentary.
This is wonderful. Thank you for posting
This is gold
Thanks to the bbc and their decision to meddle with this, to change and put warnings on it because it doesn't meet with modern "sensibilities", I rediscovered this masterpiece, and then immediately forked out for a bluray copy. It doesn't not get better than this, to teach our story, our history.
If Clark were alive today he'd probably be in favour of said warnings.
@@nectarinedreams7208 He was a man of his time and it's impossible to think what he would have thought of today.
Such a series would not even be made today as this is the the brave nu-bbc and they all follow the script nowadays, and they have learnt absolutely nothing from the series he made in the late 60s as western society repeats late Rome.
Superb watch, thanks for uploading
I know this is an older video, but I just wanted to thank you for posting this because it has inspired me to purchase the whole series for homeschooling. This series is what technology SHOULD be used for rather than the twaddle being put out today.
Knowing with an elegance of insight.
Back when we weren't afraid to admit that the west is the best.
It brings me great sadness to see what has happened. Western countries are still the only places in the world that other people are trying to break into to be a part of. You never hear about Americans immigrating to India, or Pakistan or Iran etc. Yet, we in the west are taught to believe we are evil and to never be proud of our heritage. I pray there comes a day again where the west is proud that it is still the best.
I wonder who is in control over our education systems and media. I really wonder!
From what I have heard, the high audiovisual quality comes from it being shot using film, then transferred to magnetic tape for broadcast.
From a time when the BBC didn't hate Western Civilisation
I learned recently that this entire series was commissioned by David Attenborough to show off BBC2's new color broadcasting. When seen through that lens, this series makes so much more sense. Some people who haven't seen it (including my younger self) think it's a xenophobic or uncaring to other cultures, but after the first episode the question of who is 'civilized' and who is not is really dropped altogether. Clark made a series on Western art because that was his expertise; the civilization question was really just a device to tie the series together. I find his commentary balanced and refreshingly honest, especially his critique of the obtuseness of modern art. When taken for what it is, a series on art to show the possibilities of color TV, with amazing cinematography and thoughtful commentary, it's an enthralling and still poignant piece of art itself.
Why should one have to apologize for celebrating western civilization in a documentary on the subject?
@@johnmurdoch8534that is not the purpose of this documentary
@@agh7185 it is just a celebration. ..not an apology.
The Ascent of Man was the epilogue. Wait for the flash. Amen
4:02 Great Works of Art.
4:20 The Prowl of A Viking Ship.
4:49 A Higher State of Civilization.
5:40 Myth, Dance & Song,
5:56
9:07 Confidence. Vitality. Weight of Energy.
15:54 Christians and Pagans.
A new dark age is upon us,
If you let it happen
@@bidenator9760 Happened when your ancestors accepter a small hat God.
Thanks Douglas
It's a real pleasure to listen to someone speaking a very good english and on interesting subjects into the bargain. Early invasions were nothing compared to what happens now in the western world.At the end of the 6th century, under Justinian's rule, byzantine wonders were already created. At the current rate of degradation, nothing will remain in 2 centuries.
If I remember this LONG series 'a personal view' ends with the only time he really gives his personal view 😂
Very English. Well done lad.
I shall enjoy watching again.
His first words are more true now compared to the time he spoke them. This is an essential documentary to look at in our age!
Very Instructive, Bravo !
Currently halfway through the first episode, this is great. Thank you for uploading. 👍
I'm in Canada so will have to find a VPN or something for the next 2 videos.
One of the greatest tv series ever made.Without getting into a long debate about Sociology:Or the Post modernists:and it being the antithesis of the likes of Kenneth Clarke.There is a place for both if we are to understand the World we live in today and appreciate the past good and bad.I don’t like the way we are now with either a right or wrong view amongst everyone everywhere.We should share and debate,not close off each other’s opinions and perspectives.
Right that’s out of the way and can get back to watching 👀
"Civilization is vulnerable not only to munitions, it is vulnerable to cowardice and betrayal."
‘There are more things in heaven and earth, Kenneth, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.’
We would not see anything like this being made in 2024. Perhaps that tells us something about the trajectory that today's civilisation is now on.
Thank you, TGT, and KC, of course... .
Refreshing to see time spent lingering on the art and architecture which would not be tolerated in today's fast-paced repetitive production values.
Yes, this old fashioned, highly educated man of his type has almost died out. He did, however, have his blind spots. He does not mention Spain's contribution-the courts of Asturias, Leon, Galicia and the vibrancy that once was the fusing of the best of Christian and Islamic cultures in Grenada, despite the persecutions, there. He would have also understood 'chivalry' if he had studied the life of El Cid and the folk legends attached to him!
Wrong. That's just CGI effects they used back then to make it look like they spent longer on such aspects. They did something called slowing down which is also known as slow motion in order to make it look like they allowed for such aspects. You can see this in the deleted scenes on the Blu Ray copy. Clark signed a few copies for my cousin, who was in rehab with him. They said he's OK but keeps talking about how how Liszt is better than Chopin
why are you being subversive? Let me be emphatic: Christian culture and influence is responsible for 95 percent of the architectural basis and influence in Western Civilization. Greco-Roman origins but don't try that.
I suggest everyone read or listen to Gibbon. He's a hoot!
Really.
Probably the one modern dude that showed how history can be enjoyable and necessary ...
learning things is fun!
I also really really really love to listen to the William and Ariel Durant books!
And the BBCs multiparty WW1 1963 doc, narrated by Michael Redgrave. SUPERB.
More modern masterpieces.
Karnow's Vietnam PBS doc...circa 1976...
Ken Burns everything...
What say you Doc lovers worldwide...what are your faves?!!!
The quality of these vintage shows out class 95 %of modern shit
Essential viewing. Again by the skin of our teeth does Civilization hang. The barbarians are at the gates again. Are we too exhausted to stop them ?
NO.
Yes
my grandfather who was from Palestine and came to New York harbor in 1910 used to say " dem english speak funny ".
i read that in London centuries ago the average person that lived in London and traveled into the countryside could not understand the speech of the rural people .
I used to watch a series or soap opera called the East Enders broad cast by the BBC that were about English people in a poor area of London on the east side and i could barely understand there accent it was so thick .
@@markbahouth2713EastEnders is still going and is still very popular! It's an east end/cockney accent of the London working classes.
It's still true that someone from London might go to Newcastle in the north or to Glasgow in Scotland and not be able to understand their accent.
Our illegitimate rulers let them all in! Primarily because in the 60’s & 70’s they decided it would be posh to reduce our fertility rates through price inflation and birth control…then they realized they were shrinking the tax base, so they began bringing in migrants in the mid 90’s so that each proceeding administration didn’t have to shrink its budget. It really is quite that simple.
Such a brilliant work of art itself.
I've watched this show a few times, but this is the first time I noticed (at 2:01) a WWII German Panther tank.
Brilliant series.❤❤
Remember it ...long time ago on TV. And as book .......thanks a lot
Superb.
Lord Clarke is/ was a most exceptional human being indeed.
There are two other videos with E6-9 and E10-13. Keep looking.
Anyone know the location @1:06:57? - I wonder how it looks today.
To anyone:
Read Elie Faure’s “a history of art” - very worth it believe me.
Thanks for posting. Because most of the original series was struck from RUclips, I just went to ThriftBooks and bought the last remaining DVD set..
LAST OF THE DVDIANS .
2:47 And here we are
He holding that black n mild like a TRUE GENTLEMAN 😂
Some of _Star Wars_ was shot on Skellig island. That feels appropriate, somehow. _Star Wars_ is, after all, about the rebirth of a civilisation after the rise and fall of an empire.
That island is actually "Skellig Michael", or Michael's Island.
"Skellig", or "Skerries", were Norse terms for little offshore islands.
Totalmente de acuerdo paisano, Claudio Brook tenía una voz portentosa me gusta más esta serie narrada por él que por el Sr. Clark saludos desde Tepoztlán.
Timely.
I sent myself here.
For anyone wondering what post-modernism is: it is the exact opposite of everything seen here. I don't mean postmodernist don't like the aqueducts or Leonardo DaVinci drawings. Rather, the spirit of postmodern is a refusal adopt the hierarchical value structure used by thinkers like Clark to designate and venerate one kind of history, culture, or artwork over another. The approach in this documentary looks so passé and rotten this far into the 21st century. Check out Thomas Mcevilley's "Shape of Ancient Thought," "Art and Discontent," and "Art and Otherness."
Clark 8:00 - "What are [Civilizations] enemies? First
of all fear, fear of War, fear of invasion, fear
of plague, fears that make it simply not worthwhile
constructing things or planting trees or even
planting Nexus crops, and fear of the supernatural,
which means that you don't question anything
or change anything."
Religious Conservatives in the comments - "ThE bArBaRiaNs aRe at the gAtEs aGaIn, tHiNgs wErE bEtteR iN tHe pAst hUr"
It's like many of your didn't even watch this series and actually pay attention to Clark's arguments.
3:17:50 Does anyone know the name of the piece that plays during the intro/credits of Part 5?
Weall it seems is from the sixtin chapel but I don’t know
Found it. "Canzon Prima Toni" (C170) by Giovanni Gabrieli