Plough, Sword, and Book: The Structure of Human History
Ernest Gellner. University of Chicago Press, $27.5 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-226-28702-7
Dividing world history into three phases (hunting/gathering, agriculture and industry), this study asserts that most agrarian civilizations are too self-limiting for the leap into capitalism and a market economy. ``Gellner's ambitious theory smacks of Eurocentric hubris, and . . . his prose is turgid and portentous,'' chided PW. (Jan.)
Details
Reviewed on: 03/02/1992
Genre: Nonfiction
Hardcover - 288 pages - 978-0-226-28701-0