Arturo Pérez-Reverte reflects on the end of the West and historical context

Spanish novelist and RAE academic Arturo Pérez-Reverte has shared reflections on aging, history, and the current state of Western civilization. In recent interviews, the 74-year-old author expressed a sense of witnessing ‘the end of a world, the end of the West, of Europe.’

Pérez-Reverte noted that as he ages, he finds himself possessing fewer certainties and more uncertainties, a state he finds beneficial for his creative process. He also addressed the dangers of historical revisionism, stating that ‘it is a grave error to look at the past with the eyes of the present.’

The author argued against judging historical figures and events through the lens of modern moral standards or contemporary ideologies, suggesting that such anachronistic views distort historical reality. He emphasized the necessity of contextualizing the past within the mentalities and rules of its own era.