A Short History Of Progress - Softcover

Wright, Ronald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786715472 ISBN 13: 9780786715473

Publisher: Da Capo Pr, 2005

Synopsis

Each time history repeats itself, the cost goes up. The twentieth century--a time of unprecedented progress--has produced a tremendous strain on the very elements that comprise life itself: This raises the key question of the twenty-first century: How much longer can this go on? With wit and erudition, Ronald Wright lays out a-convincing case that history has always provided an answer, whether we care to notice or not. From Neanderthal man to the Sumerians to the Roman Empire, A Short History of Progress dissects the cyclical nature of humanity's development and demise, the 10,000-year old experiment that we've unleashed but have yet to control. It is Wright's contention that only by understanding and ultimately breaking from the patterns of progress and disaster that humanity has repeated around the world since the Stone Age can we avoid the onset of a new Dark Age. Wright illustrates how various cultures throughout history have literally manufactured their own end by producing an overabundance of innovation and stripping bare the very elements that allowed them to initially advance. Wright's book is brilliant; a fascinating rumination on the hubris at the heart of human development and the pitfalls we still may have time to avoid.

About this title

Review

"The author sifts the findings of archaeology and anthropology with thoughtful grace to build a potent argument." (Guardian)

"A compelling work of distilled wisdom." (The Times)

"Rarely have I read a book that is so gripping, so immediate and so important to our times. Jared Diamond will be jealous." (Robyn Williams)

"Ronald Wright is both trained academic and an acclaimed novelist and he has used these skills to page-turning effect in this work of non-fiction." (Morning Star)

From the Back Cover

Have we learnt the lessons of the past - or will we be next? Many of the great ruins that grace the deserts and jungles of the earth are monuments to civilisations which fell victim to their own success: from Easter Island's monolithic wilderness to the perpetual silence of the Mayan ruins and ultimately to today's melting ice caps
and growing ozone hole, the cycle has continually repeated itself across the years.

"Unfailingly provocative and scarily persuasive." Scotsman

"The author sifts the findings of archaeology and anthropology with thoughtful grace to build a potent argument." Guardian

"I was thoroughly shaken up by Ronald Wright's A Short History of Progress, a brilliant analysis of everything humanity has done to ruin itself down the ages." Jan Morris, Independent

"Wise, timely and brilliant." Globe and Mail

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Pr
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0786715472
• ISBN 13: 9780786715473
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 211