Böcker av Kent Augustson

This trilogy provides an appreciation of the diverse four major civilizations that frame our world today-Confucian China, Hindu India, the Muslim Middle East, and the Christian West-from their first meaningful interaction in 1100. This book, in covering 1400-1700, finds remarkably that the major transformative actions of each touch the years 1501-1526. Following the progress of these civilizations which, with their expansion, represent 85 percent of the world''s population is the key to understanding our world today. They are faced with solving the ultimate challenge before us now-the use of power on the world stage. Kent Augustson, with a master''s degree in history from UCLA, worked for thirty years as a federal executive in Washington DC that featured presentations to the White House OMB and the US Congress where learned was the art of presenting the essence of the matter with enlightening accompaniments. With insights gained from living history while largely self-schooled in his extensive studies since UCLA, Augustson offers an original perspective on world history while always conscious of tying the past to today. Included are illuminating charts as well as maps with a portrayal of fascinating characters and memorable events. 

This is the first book in a trilogy offering an original interpretation of our place in time that makes the discord of the current day more comprehensible. This is accomplished using three devices. First, recognizing that human history is the history of civilizations, we have identified four civilizations that, with their spread, account for about 85% of the world''s population today. These are Confucian China, Hindu India, the Muslim Middle East, and the Christian West. To gain an appreciation of these four is to know well today''s world and to glimpse where we are heading. Second, we provide a unique time frame for the progress of these civilizations which expands upon German philosopher-historian Karl Jasper''s well-regarded argument for an Axial Age relating to love, morality and wisdom in the centuries surrounding 500 BC. We postulate a new Axial Age in our day that speaks to power. Third, we make our simple but powerful hypothesis accessible by avoiding complex reasonings and endless accumulations of data. Rather, presented perceptively in each book are seventeen memorable tales about the civilizations that link to one another, interact with one another like a long novel of four families out of which our theme evolves. Beginning with 1100 AD when these civilizations start to meaningfully interrelate, the books cover three centuries apiece. The final chapter in this work provides a summation of how events in the 12th to 14th centuries directly relate to the present day.