Power and civilization
- New York Thomes Y. Crowell 1962
- 587 p.
AMONG ITS SEVERAL HAZARDS, the twentieth century harbors perils of interpretation. Few eras have produced such violent change social, eco- nomic, and political-as our own. So elusive are patterns of thought and action in such a time, so swiftly may the realities and possibilities men create today be destroyed tomorrow, that the student of political thought is hard put to sort out the ideas that will have enduring significance. Few eras, moreover, have produced such noise in the realm of ideas. "Anyone desiring a quiet life," wrote Trotsky, "has done badly to be born in the twentieth century.” The clamor adds to the confusion, because so bewilder- ing is the cacophony of voices condemning and advocating that one may mistake the loudest assertions in the political din for the most significant. We have in this volume tried to orchestrate the voices so that the most important themes may be clearly heard and understood.