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William H. McNeill is known for his ability to portray the grand sweep of history. The Global Condition is a classic work for understanding the grand sweep of world history in brief compass. Now with a new foreword by J. R. McNeill, this book brings together two of William Hardy McNeill's popular short books and an essay. The Human Condition provides a provocative interpretation of history as a competition of parasites, both biological and human; The Great Frontier questions the notion of "frontier freedom" through an examination of European expansion; the concluding essay speculates on the role of catastrophe in our lives.
Foreword vii
Preface xvii
I The Great Frontier: Freedom and Hierarchy in Modern Times
Acknowledgements 3
Lecture I: To 1750 5
Lecture II: From 1750 33
II The Human Condition: An Ecological and Historical View
Acknowledgements 67
Microparasitism, Macroparasitism, and the Urban Transmutation 69
Microparasitism, Macroparasitism, and the commercial transmutation 100
III Control and Catastrophe in Human Affairs 133
Notes 151
Index 161
Description
William H. McNeill is known for his ability to portray the grand sweep of history. The Global Condition is a classic work for understanding the grand sweep of world history in brief compass. Now with a new foreword by J. R. McNeill, this book brings together two of William Hardy McNeill's popular short books and an essay. The Human Condition provides a provocative interpretation of history as a competition of parasites, both biological and human; The Great Frontier questions the notion of "frontier freedom" through an examination of European expansion; the concluding essay speculates on the role of catastrophe in our lives.
