Overview

In After Eden, prominent Latin American historian John Charles Chasteen provides a concise history of the world, in which he explores the origins and persistence of the timeless phenomena of humanity's inhumanity to itself. Where did it come from? Why has it been so prevalent throughout our history? And, most importantly, can we overcome it? Chasteen argues that to do so, we must understand our shared past. While much of that past is violent, we can look for inspiration from major periods when we strived to live more cooperatively, such as our early foraging periods, to the birth of the ideas of individual liberty and freedom, the rise of socialism in response to the massive excesses of global capitalism, the civil rights and decolonization movements of the twentieth century, to the environmental and social justice movements of today. Once we understand who and what we are as a species and a people, we will be in the best position to figure out how to work together to tackle the greatest challenges we face today--mass global inequality and the destruction of our environment. Fully informed by the latest scholarship, After Eden presents a down-to earth, fast-paced narrative of world history, animated by stories of people from all walks of life and enriched by insightful analysis and the author's extensive world travel.

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John Charles Chasteen is professor of history emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of Born in Blood and Fire, the widely beloved bestselling history of Latin America. He lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina. Petrea Burchard grew up in northern Illinois, where farm meets university, making her a townie with a love for animals, nature, and books. She started reading as soon as she figured out how and has been an actor since she could get anyone to pay attention. Petrea's stage experience covers everything from Second City comedy to Shakespeare, and her resume includes television, film, and voice-over work. Petrea earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing with a double minor in theater and French. Along with numerous articles and short stories she has published a time-slip novel, Camelot & Vine, and a book of comic essays, Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand, about being a journeyman actor in Hollywood. When she's not narrating audiobooks in her Los Angeles home studio, Petrea loves to travel. But a hike in the mountains with her husband and their pit bull, Melly, is as good as a weekend in Paris.

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