Anthony Esolen’s entry in the ‘PIG’ series of ‘politically incorrect guides’ takes on the granddaddy of them all: it’s the PIG to western civilization itself.

With such a daunting and crucial task at hand, Esolen is a marvel. He’s erudite, witty, bold and so, so right about the myriad ways in which the glories of the West, from the Greeks to the Romans to Jews to the Middle Ages to the present day, have been suppressed or undermined by quislings within.

In just over 300 sparkling pages, Esolen plays Virgil to the open-minded reader -- now cajoling, now challenging, now simply opening windows to allow fresh air and light long excluded to flow back into the room.

The elegance and yes, beauty of Esolen’s work here is in danger of being obscured by the series’ insalubrious title and the book’s rather garish cover. Don’t let this put you off. Although this is a perfect gift for university or graduate students, it’s a work that rewards the attention of anyone interested in the truth. ( )

I teach a Western civilization course for a tutorial service and I thought I would check out this book. Esolen writes in a very readable style and touches on the history, art, ideas and people that have made the Western world what it is. He comes from a strong Catholic perspective and is not apologetic about it. He brings up some excellent points that in our politically correct society we overlook or downplay. I would not use it as a textbook but I have used some of his points in class and looked further at some of the books he recommended. At a time when many high schools and universities are watering down their curriculum and not assigning the reading of the great books or discussing some of the great philosophers or leaders of the Western Civilization this book challenges us to rethink that and realize what a rich heritage we have. ( )