Overview

In a tempestuous narrative that sweeps across five continents and seven centuries, this book explains how a succession of catastrophes--from the devastating Black Death of 1350 through the coming climate crisis of 2050--has produced a relentless succession of rising empires and fading world orders. During the long centuries of Iberian and British imperial rule, the quest for new forms of energy led to the development of the colonial sugar plantation as a uniquely profitable kind of commerce. In a time when issues of race and social justice have arisen with pressing urgency, the book explains how the plantation's extraordinary profitability relied on a production system that literally worked the slaves to death, creating an insatiable appetite for new captives that made the African slave trade a central feature of modern capitalism for over four centuries. After surveying past centuries roiled by imperial wars, national revolutions, and the struggle for human rights, the closing chapters use those hard-won insights to peer through the present and into the future. By rendering often-opaque environmental science in lucid prose, the book explains how climate change and changing world orders will shape the life opportunities for younger generations, born at the start of this century, during the coming decades that will serve as the signposts of their lives--2030, 2050, 2070, and beyond.

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Reviews

"A brilliant distillation of seven hundred years of geopolitics...A call to action for us all, as time still remains to prevent an unprecedented cascade of catastrophes. -- ""Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!"" A formidable work of scholarship...Yet it is a gripping and fast-paced read that manages to distill the complex history of the rise and fall of world empires into a gripping narrative. -- ""Jeremy Scahill, New York Times bestselling author"" A magisterial view of the empires of the past--and of the force in our future which promises to dwarf them all. -- ""Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author"" An ambitious effort to discern patterns in the rise and fall of world empires...McCoy's account is compelling...with many provocative observations on world history and its present twists. -- ""Kirkus Reviews"" History on an epic scale...McCoy's immensely readable narrative spans centuries, charting the rise and fall of successive world orders down to our own present moment. -- ""Andrew Bacevich, New York Times bestselling author"" McCoy's argument is meticulously footnoted and his sobering conclusions appear firmly grounded in data. -- ""California Review of Books"""

A brilliant distillation of seven hundred years of geopolitics...A call to action for us all, as time still remains to prevent an unprecedented cascade of catastrophes. -- Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! A formidable work of scholarship...Yet it is a gripping and fast-paced read that manages to distill the complex history of the rise and fall of world empires into a gripping narrative. -- Jeremy Scahill, New York Times bestselling author A magisterial view of the empires of the past--and of the force in our future which promises to dwarf them all. -- Adam Hochschild, New York Times bestselling author An ambitious effort to discern patterns in the rise and fall of world empires...McCoy's account is compelling...with many provocative observations on world history and its present twists. -- Kirkus Reviews History on an epic scale...McCoy's immensely readable narrative spans centuries, charting the rise and fall of successive world orders down to our own present moment. -- Andrew Bacevich, New York Times bestselling author McCoy's argument is meticulously footnoted and his sobering conclusions appear firmly grounded in data. -- California Review of Books

Author Information

Alfred McCoy holds the Harrington Chair in History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His book Policing America's Empire won the Kahin Prize from the Association for Asian Studies. Dan Woren is an American voice actor and Earphones Award-winning narrator. He has worked extensively in animation, video games, and feature films. He is best known for his many roles in anime productions such as Bleach and as the voice of Sub-Zero in the video game Mortal Kombat.

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