Puchner, M: Culture The surprising connections and influences between civilisations. 'Genius' - William Dalrymple

Culture – the common heritage of humanity. How did culture evolve, how is it transformed and passed on to the generations to come? Martin Puchners book is a manifesto for cultural diversity, seeing it as a huge recycling project, in the best sense of the word. Encounters with foreign cultures or cultures of the distant past can lead to new cultural forms and innovations. No society, no nation can actually own culture, it is all about sharing, transforming and adapting. An important topic today is cultural appropriation, this is a point the author only mentions incidentally. Nevertheless, this book is great to read, very informative. (See also: Puchner, The Written World)