Description: Over the past five hundred years, historians and other social scientists have perceived an extraordinary occurance: the transition from the Middle Ages, via the Renaissance, to modernity
Review Quotes:
"Tracing the origins of global consciousness through five centuries of history is in itself a daring venture, to do so with concise clarity a remarkable achievement. Bruce Mazlish accomplishes that by employing the scholarship and insights of a long and distinguished career in a wisely personal essay. The categories of analysis and the focus on individual thinkers make for an engaging seminar open to readers at every level of discovery or expertise."
--Raymond Grew, University of Michigan
"This book is a beautifully written reflection combining academic expertise with a deep concern about the future of humanity. Mazlish leads the reader through an array of themes ranging from Western intellectual history to the emergence of capitalism and the contours of globalization."
--Dominic Sachsenmaier, Jacobs University, Germany
"Written with the sure hand of a distinguished intellectual historian of Europe, Mazlish's 'reflections' offer stimulating explorations of a provocative thesis: the contemporary transition from a specifically European modernity to globalization and a new consciousness of humanity. The conciseness of the essays belies the wealth of knowledge and insight that informs them. The essays are stimulating for the specialist. They should also make great teaching material."
--Arif Dirlik, author, Global Modernity: Modernity in the Age of Global Capitalism