What Is Progress

"Historian Schiavone mixes philosophy, politics, and anthropology in this stimulating inquiry into the 'paradigm of progress.'" —Publishers Weekly

Today, many believe that progress is a word to be avoided, a relic from a past, the dangerous product of an era of intellectual naivety that would be best forgotten. Yet, the idea of progress is rooted in a human impulse that is both profound and essential, a way of interpreting history without which our ability to plan the future—and our very id...