Well, Europe basically begins at the Pillars of Hercules and ends at the Bosporus. This has been true for about 3,000 years. Europeans are generally understood to be people native to the area. Culturally, the West are generally those who trace their political/cultural roots to the Romans and Greeks.
Western cultural control has moved back and forth past the geographic extent: North Africa and Turkey used to be dominated by Western culture, then spain and the Balkans were dominated by Eastern Powers, before being driven off by several hundred years campains with the European lands being reconquered by Western Powers.
I'm not sure what about commonly understood history your complaining about. Would you argue the Spanish are not Western? What about the Russians?