Each time history repeats itself, the cost goes up. The twentieth century—a time of unprecedented progress—has 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 humanity's development and demise, the 10,000-year old experiment that we've unleashed but have yet to control.

It is Wright's 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. Wright illustrates how various cultures throughout history have literally manufactured their own end by producing an overabundance of innovation and stripping bare the very elements that allowed them to initially advance. Wright's book is brilliant; a fascinating rumination on the hubris at the heart of human development and the pitfalls we still may have time to avoid.

Ronald Wright著名小说家，历史学家和散文家，他的作品被翻译成多国语言。他的非小说最贫包括：Stolen Continents(该书是出版当年头号畅销书，获得Gordon Montador Award, 还是当年《独立报》和《周日时报》的年度推荐图书)，A Scientific Romance (获得1997年David Higham Prize 最佳小说奖，被《邮报》、《周日时报》、《纽约时报》、《环球》评为当年的年度图书)，他最新创作的小说叫做 Hendorson’s Spear. 他出生在英国，毕业于剑桥大学，现在居住在加拿大。