Book Recommendation

People interested in history in general, and history of western civilization in particular should checkout "Passion of the Western Mind" by Richard Tarnas. It's an excellent text on history of ideas, which have shaped western world. Starting from classical (greece) world the book takes you through how christianity evolved and what impact classical thought and Rome had on development of christian world-view (and also how christianity affected Roman empire). Then it traces development of modern and postmodern world-views, taking one through Renaissance, Reformation and Scientific-Revolution.

What I liked best about it was the bird's eye view given of various ideas and people who have had an impact on western civilization. So, for example, it doesn't go into details about Kant's philosophy but gives an overview of his place in history of philosophy, the problems he was trying to solve and his impact on future generation of thinkers. A very good reference book for further exploration.