After Eden: A Short History of the World

Download or read book After Eden: A Short History of the World written by John Charles Chasteen and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2023-11-14 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To solve the problems of the twenty-first century, historian John Charles Chasteen argues that we must first know our shared human story. In After Eden, prominent Latin American historian John Chasteen presents a concise down-to-earth, fast-paced narrative of world history, from the Big Bang to the present, animated by stories of people from all walks of life and enriched by insightful analysis and the author’s extensive world travel. To tackle today’s major problems of global inequality and environmental degradation, Chasteen argues that we must first understand our shared past, both the violent and cruel dimensions—“humanity’s inhumanity to itself”—and the aspirational ones—the creation of universal religions and ethical systems; the birth of the ideas of individual liberty and freedom; the resistance to the excesses of global capitalism; the civil rights and decolonization movements; and the environmental and social justice movements of today. For Chasteen, ultimate success hinges on our ability to recognize from our past experiences what is needed for us to live cooperatively and, most critically, the ways we educate our young people.