Millennium: From Religion to Revolution; How Civilization Has Changed Over a Thousand Years

Acclaimed British medievalist Mortimer (The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England) takes readers on a tour of the last thousand years as he attempts to glean which century of the last millennium saw the most change in Western civilization. He charts the progress and evolution of Western society while asking some truly challenging questions—how much influence did da Vinci truly have on history?—and making startling omissions (Napoleon, for instance, fails to rate even a mention). Given the expansive nature of his study, Mortimer often relies on statistics and data to illustrate a broad historical context; less often, he takes brief but engaging dips into the history of individuals and cultures. Though some may be unconvinced by Mortimer’s reliance on quantitative reasoning, it is hard to fault much of what he has selected as the most relevant trends and transformations of the West. But the most startling piece of analysis comes only after Mortimer has rendered his verdict. In the final chapter, Mortimer speculates about the future of Western society using the same schema that he applied to the past millennium. Though his predictions are grim, Mortimer’s intrinsic faith in human perseverance offers a glimmer of hope for the coming thousand years. (Nov.)