"Eschewing conventional chronological accounts, The Twentieth Century is organized around the major themes of the last hundred years. To help us understand our recent past and probable future, Clive Ponting offers a "world systems" theory. His analysis holds that a few core states have dominated much of the rest of the world, which provides raw materials and cheap labor and remains tied to the core as virtual colonial territory. Between these extremes are Latin America, the Middle East, and eastern Asia, which have a limited shot at self-determination. Economic, social, and political differences between the core and periphery continue to grow. Atlantic predominance, which molded world history for four hundred years, has been challenged by the countries of the Pacific." "The book's central theme revolves around the struggle between progress and barbarism; the hope for our future is that "our conscience will catch up with our reason.""--Jacket.
- ISBN10 080506088X
- ISBN13 9780805060881
- Publish Date 15 April 1999
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 25 March 2015
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Henry Holt & Company
- Edition American ed.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 584
- Language English