Loading

author: Peter Turchin

2024-03-07

Penguin Books Ltd

End Times: Elites Counter-Elites And The Path Of Political Disintegration

AED 59
Easy Payment Plan
Easy Payment Plans
EPP available for order over AED 1,000
i
Same-day to 2-day delivery
Check availability in store
THE THOUGHT BOOK OF THE YEAR, THE TIMES


A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Game of Thrones-style intra-elite conflict meets big data' TLS

'Extraordinary. . . the culmination of many years of highly original and innovative work' Bloomberg

One of the most iconoclastic thinkers of our time offers a brilliant new theory of how society works

What leads to political turbulence and social breakdown? How do elites maintain their dominant position? And why do ruling classes sometimes suddenly lose their grip on power?

For decades, complexity scientist Peter Turchin has been studying world history like no-one else. Assembling vast databases mined from 10,000 years of human activity, and then developing new models, he has transformed the way we learn from the past. End Times is the result: a ground-breaking account of how society works.

The lessons, he argues, are clear. When the balance of power between the ruling class and the majority tips too far in favour of elites, income inequality surges. The rich get richer, the poor further impoverished. As more people try to join the elite, frustration with the establishment brims over, often with disastrous consequences. Elite overproduction led to state breakdown in imperial China, in medieval France, in the American Civil War - and it is happening now.

But while we are far along the path toward violent political rupture, Turchin's models also light the way to a brighter future. Drawing insight from those occasions in history where the balance was restored, End Times also points towards a different future: an escape from the patterns of the past.

BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2023: THE GUARDIAN * THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES
View full description
Loyalty dots logo
Earn 59 loyalty dots and 1% Tickit cashback
AED 59
Easy Payment Plan
Easy Payment Plans
EPP available for order over AED 1,000
i
THE THOUGHT BOOK OF THE YEAR, THE TIMES


A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR

'Game of Thrones-style intra-elite conflict meets big data' TLS

'Extraordinary. . . the culmination of many years of highly original and innovative work' Bloomberg

One of the most iconoclastic thinkers of our time offers a brilliant new theory of how society works

What leads to political turbulence and social breakdown? How do elites maintain their dominant position? And why do ruling classes sometimes suddenly lose their grip on power?

For decades, complexity scientist Peter Turchin has been studying world history like no-one else. Assembling vast databases mined from 10,000 years of human activity, and then developing new models, he has transformed the way we learn from the past. End Times is the result: a ground-breaking account of how society works.

The lessons, he argues, are clear. When the balance of power between the ruling class and the majority tips too far in favour of elites, income inequality surges. The rich get richer, the poor further impoverished. As more people try to join the elite, frustration with the establishment brims over, often with disastrous consequences. Elite overproduction led to state breakdown in imperial China, in medieval France, in the American Civil War - and it is happening now.

But while we are far along the path toward violent political rupture, Turchin's models also light the way to a brighter future. Drawing insight from those occasions in history where the balance was restored, End Times also points towards a different future: an escape from the patterns of the past.

BEST BOOKS OF SUMMER 2023: THE GUARDIAN * THE TIMES * SUNDAY TIMES
View full description
View less description

publisher

Penguin Books Ltd

Specifications

Books

Number of Pages
368
Publication Date
2024-03-07
View more specifications
View less specifications
Customers