The Paths of History
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loginTracing an outline of historical processes from palaeolithic times to thepresent day,The Paths of Historyprovides a unique, concise and readableoverview of the entire history of humanity and the laws governing it.This is a broad and ambitious study which takes as its point of departureMarx’s theory of social evolution. Professor Diakonoff, however, hasexpanded Marx’s five stages of development to eight. In addition, and incontrast to Marx, Professor Diakonoff denies that our transition fromone stage to the next is marked by social conflict and revolution anddemonstrates that these transitions are sometimes achieved peacefullyand gracefully. Professor Diakonoff’s focus is not limited solely to theeconomic and socio-economic aspects of our development, rather heexamines in detail the ethnic, cultural, religious and military-techno-logical factors which have been brought to bear over the centuries.Professor Diakonoff also denies that social evolution necessarily impliesprogress and shows how ‘each progress is simultaneously a regress’.Finally the book concludes with a prognosis for the future of humanity,leaving the reader to draw their own conclusion about what the futureholds. As the book moves through the various chronological stages, thereader is drawn into a remarkable and thought-provoking study of theprocess of the history of the human race which promises to be the mostimportant work of intellectual world history since Toynbee.
