Each time history repeats itself, the cost goes up. The twentieth centurya time of unprecedented progresshas 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 humanitys development and demise, the 10,000-year old experiment that weve unleashed but have yet to control. It is Wrights 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.
