The Face of Glory: Creativity, Consciousness and Civilization

This book is the most inspiring I've ever read. Anderson describes the many facets of humankind's creative energy. He focuses not simply on the "heroic" aspect of the creation of art works, but also on the nature of enjoyment, the role of audiences, shifts of perception, and attunement to metaphor. Anderson explores the topic through what he calls the "great memory", his metaphor for civilization's constant rediscovery of the collective creative endeavors of prior civilizations, such as the Renaissance's rediscovery, and reappropriation, of classical civilization. In his narrative Anderson covers the art, religion, and science of all the world's great civilizations. His style can be challenging to absorb at times, as it borders on the poetic, but it is well worth the effort.