Culture: A new world history

'A forceful rebuke to those who argue that culture can be owned by groups, nations, religions or races. . . . [by] an adept storyteller.' -- Ismail Muhammad ― New York Times

'Jaunty and readable but never lacking in depth, Culture hops through countries and eras to deliver a resonant argument.' -- Lauren Puckett-Pope ― Elle

'A breakneck, utterly captivating survey of threads of cultural transmission-how ideas, stories, and songs-survive, change, vanish, get borrowed, refined, coopted, and grafted through time ... I underlined sentences on every page.' -- Anthony Doerr

'A remarkable book.' -- Kwame Anthony Appiah

'Eminently readable ... The book's great strength lies in its ability to swoop deftly and lightly between things that may be familiar to us in themselves, but which we might be tempted to separate out in our attempts to form a picture of the world.' -- Edward Wilson-Lee ― The Times Literary Supplement

'Martin Puchner has exceptional and invaluable gifts: intellectual fearlessness, dazzling erudition, trenchancy tempered by breadth of mind, and a humanist's eye for minute evidence that illumines huge problems.' -- Felipe Fernandez-Armesto

'Fearless and exhilaratingly erudite, Martin Puchner's panoramic tour of human culture across the millennia is a riveting page-turner.' -- Amy Chua

'A writer of genius' -- William Dalrymple

'Elegantly written and full of erudite lore, this vibrant history illuminates the inveterate human yearning for expression.' ― Publishers Weekly

'A thoughtful, generous vision of human creativity across centuries of culture.' ― Kirkus

'Fluent and engaging.' -- Boyd Tonkin ― Wall Street Journal

'A mighty, polymathic work . . . [by] a master storyteller -- Chris Vognar ― Boston Globe

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