Jacques Attali

#2

In Millennium, bestselling historian Ian Mortimer takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the last ten centuries of Western history. It is a journey into a past vividly brought to life and bursting with ideas, that pits one century against another in his quest to measure which century saw the greatest change. We journey from a time when there was a fair chance of your village being burned to the ground by invaders ― and dried human dung was a recommended cure for cancer ― to a world in which explorers sailed into the unknown and civilizations came into conflict with each other on an epic scale. Here is a story of godly scientists, fearless adventurers, cold-hearted entrepreneurs, and strong-minded women ― a story of discovery, invention, revolution, and cataclysmic shifts in perspective. Millennium is a journey into the past like no other. Our understanding of human development will never be the same again, and the lessons we learn along the way are profound ones for us all. --

#3

"In this international best seller, world-renowned economist and political adviser Jacques Attali predicts how our world will look not only in the coming decades but a century from now. Will there be global chaos, dominated by terrorists, pirates, dictators, devastating droughts, and rising floodwaters? Or will the planet be blessed with peace, prosperity, and greater freedom for mankind?" "While many unpredictable factors could change the course and timing of events, Attali argues that history flows in a single, stubborn direction that no upheaval, however momentous, can permanently deflect. Analyzing the past in order to predict the future, he pinpoints three political orders in human history: the ritual order, in which religious powers dominate; the imperial order, in which the military powers hold sway; and the mercantile order, in which the paramount group is the one that controls the economy. Within the last named, the author makes a case that there have been nine distinct "cores," starting around 1200, each with its world center of power and prestige, and predicts what the tenth will be by the dawn of the next century." "Never, he states, has the world offered more promise for the future yet been more fraught with potential dangers. How we respond to the crises and opportunities that await us will determine what land of world we will bequeath our children and grandchildren."--Jacket.