East and West Divided by Long, Bitter History UCLA Professor Anthony Pagden's "Worlds at War" lays the historical groundwork for the political thinking that many feel is badly needed in our globalized post-9/11 world. "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet," declared the British writer Rudyard Kipling in one of the most well-known ballads of the 19th century. The poetic refrain echoes a historical reality brilliantly presented by Anthony Pagden, a professor of history and political science, in his latest book, "Worlds at War: The 2,500-year struggle between East and West." Published by Random House this past spring, the widely reviewed book is the latest in a string of scholarly but highly accessible historical epics for which Pagden is noted. Pagden is one of the world's foremost experts on empire. In this book, he masterfully delineates the boundaries between East and West, highlighting how nations are built on shared memories, both good and bad, and why victory and defeat in battles is an important element of nationhood. Educated in Chile, Spain, France and Oxford, the author reminds us that the millennia-long East-West conflict is far from over. Snipped from http://www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=95603 --- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar