An Age of Progress?: Clashing Twentieth-century Global Forces Hardcover - 2008

Elegantly, comprehensively, insightfully, Walter Moss carries us through the twentieth century's record of progress and violence, promise and disappointment to an appreciation of the challenges we face in the twenty-first century.'
Joyce Applebly, Professor Emiritus, UCLA
Modern society has operated under the assumption that technological developments and the production of material goods intrinsically lead to improvement in the overall welfare of individuals and nations. However, Walter G. Moss provides a more analytical reading of the main trends of the twentieth century, and offers a gripping introduction to the defining themes of the recent past. Broaching subjects as varied as war, assassinations, atrocities; the long-term impact of scientific-technological developments; the ideological bouts of the century; and the chief developments in culture, art and literature, Moss's history is an accomplished review, dealing with the complexities and subtleties of this beguiling epoch with the adeptness that has made his previous historical works such resounding successes.
An Age of Progress? is an advanced examination of major twentieth-century global developments regarding violence; capitalism, socialism and communism; imperialism, racism, nationalism, westernization, globalization, and international finance; freedom and human rights; physical and mental environmental changes; and culture, science, education, religion, and social criticism. Moss then concludes his momentous study by exploring the ways in which the twentieth century made significant progress -- and the ways in which it had not. This is an exemplary text for advanced students of twentieth-century global history, particularly within a seminar setting, and for general readers seeking to increase their basic knowledge of the subject. It can also be used as background reading for courses in International Relations and for those interested in international business and international cooperation.
Dr Walter G. Moss obtained his Ph.D. from Georgetown University and is a professor of history in the Department of History & Philosophy, Eastern Michigan University. He is the author of three Anthem Press volumes: the second editions of his two-volume A History of Russia (2003-05) and his Russia in the Age of Alexander II, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky (2002). He has long taught 20th century global history and has been a co-author of a pioneering textbook on the subject, which first appeared in 1983. It is now in its 7th edition under the slightly revised title The Twentieth Century and Beyond: A Global History (McGraw-Hill, 2007). He is also a co-author, along with Janice Terry and Jiu-Hwa Upshur, of The Twentieth Century: Readings in Global History (McGraw-Hill,1998).