Sound, sophisticated cultural analysis sure to spark a debate.
Civilization, for all its wonders and advantages, is destined to collapse due to its nature, writes Ophuls in this meticulously argued treatise.
Using the fall of Roman civilization as both example and metaphor—the title is part of a quote from Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776)—Ophuls discusses the physical and human limitations inherent to any society. He identifies four basic biophysical factors and two human factors as being the deciding variables in determining when a civilization passes its peak and enters its decline; he explains how and why these factors not only lead to a civilization’s collapse, but how the nature of these factors works against developing viable solutions to the problems they present. Ophuls takes a multidisciplinary approach to constructing his arguments, drawing on concepts and copious sources from the sciences, political theory, historical research and literature to synthesize an argument that pleads for humanity to take a long view toward the use and preservation of resources. The writing is clear and succinct in this politico-historical analysis, and the logic of Ophuls’ arguments is patiently built, with careful thought and copious citations offered as support. However, not every point in Ophuls’ sophisticated theoretical structure is without a weakness. His arguments on culture and its apparent limitations depend too closely on a monocultural viewpoint, and one chapter displays a curious misunderstanding of certain aspects of the scientific method and its attendant viewpoints. Furthermore, although technology is discussed as a cultural force, scant attention is given to the role of transformative technologies—the telephone, TV and the Internet, for example—in how a culture develops and changes. Also, some readers may take issue with the inherent moral and political conservatism Ophuls displays in his discussions of moral decay and human limitation. Despite these flaws, as well as the lack of a prescriptive conclusion, Ophuls’ clear writing, thorough research and elegant logic make his treatise a thoughtful, discussion-provoking work.
Sound, sophisticated cultural analysis sure to spark a debate.Pub Date: Dec. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-1479243143
Page Count: 116
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A timely contribution to the discussion of a crucial issue.
A history of the right to vote in America.
Since the nation’s founding, many Americans have been uneasy about democracy. Law and policy expert Waldman (The Second Amendment: A Biography, 2014, etc.), president of New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, offers a compelling—and disheartening—history of voting in America, from provisions of the Constitution to current debates about voting rights and campaign financing. In the Colonies, only white male property holders could vote and did so in public, by voice. With bribery and intimidation rampant, few made the effort. After the Revolution, many states eliminated property requirements so that men over 21 who had served in the militia could vote. But leaving voting rules to the states disturbed some lawmakers, inciting a clash between those who wanted to restrict voting and those “who sought greater democracy.” That clash fueled future debates about allowing freed slaves, immigrants, and, eventually, women to vote. In 1878, one leading intellectual railed against universal suffrage, fearing rule by “an ignorant proletariat and a half-taught plutocracy.” Voting corruption persisted in the 19th century, when adoption of the secret ballot “made it easier to stuff the ballot box” by adding “as many new votes as proved necessary.” Southern states enacted disenfranchising measures, undermining the 15th Amendment. Waldman traces the campaign for women’s suffrage; the Supreme Court’s dismal record on voting issues (including Citizens United); and the contentious fight to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which “became a touchstone of consensus between Democrats and Republicans” and was reauthorized four times before the Supreme Court “eviscerated it in 2013.” Despite increased access to voting, over the years, turnout has fallen precipitously, and “entrenched groups, fearing change, have…tried to reduce the opportunity for political participation and power.” Waldman urges citizens to find a way to celebrate democracy and reinvigorate political engagement for all.
A timely contribution to the discussion of a crucial issue.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1648-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
Thus the second most costly war in American history, whose “outcome seemed little short of a miracle.” A sterling account.
A master storyteller’s character-driven account of a storied year in the American Revolution.
Against world systems, economic determinist and other external-cause schools of historical thought, McCullough (John Adams, 2001, etc.) has an old-fashioned fondness for the great- (and not-so-great) man tradition, which may not have much explanatory power but almost always yields better-written books. McCullough opens with a courteous nod to the customary villain in the story of American independence, George III, who turns out to be a pleasant and artistically inclined fellow who relied on poor advice; his Westmoreland, for instance, was a British general named Grant who boasted that with 5,000 soldiers he “could march from one end of the American continent to the other.” Other British officers agitated for peace, even as George wondered why Americans would not understand that to be a British subject was to be free by definition. Against these men stood arrayed a rebel army that was, at the least, unimpressive; McCullough observes that New Englanders, for instance, considered washing clothes to be women’s work and so wore filthy clothes until they rotted, with the result that Burgoyne and company had a point in thinking the Continentals a bunch of ragamuffins. The Americans’ military fortunes were none too good for much of 1776, the year of the Declaration; at the slowly unfolding battle for control over New York, George Washington was moved to despair at the sight of sometimes drunk soldiers running from the enemy and of their officers “who, instead of attending to their duty, had stood gazing like bumpkins” at the spectacle. For a man such as Washington, to be a laughingstock was the supreme insult, but the British were driven by other motives than to irritate the general—not least of them reluctance to give up a rich, fertile and beautiful land that, McCullough notes, was providing the world’s highest standard of living in 1776.
Thus the second most costly war in American history, whose “outcome seemed little short of a miracle.” A sterling account.Pub Date: June 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-7432-2671-2
Page Count: 656
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2005
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