An Intimate History Of Humanity
(Theodore Zeldin)
This book unfolds the lost memory of the past that is rooted deep in our collective unconsciousness. It attempts to throw light on our
enigmatic past with a new perspective.
The author narrates stories and agonies of real life people
in whom we identify ourselves and how people of different civilizations across
the world are connected to a common past.
It surfaces the fact that vast majority of humans have been
submissive slaves, sacrificing themselves so that a privileged few can live in
luxury. They did not protest much because they themselves found other subjects
in their own family to subordinate their authority - someone weaker, someone younger. This implied that the respect they can command depends on
the number of people they can domesticate.
This is how people stumbled upon the power of dominance that inspires enormous respect. This also explains our indulgence in making
ourselves superior to others. But the same people became oblivious of the fact
that they in turn got depended on the subjects they dominate - the slaves, the subordinates. This answers the irony that today we are increasingly depended on
technology.
Today slavery seems to have disappeared but the need for
respect still remains to be satisfied.
With examples like this and more the author tells us how the knowledge of the past with new insights and interpretation can help us to come
out of our insecurities with a new understanding of humanity and thereby
avoiding the cycle of past mistakes.
To summarize it in the authors words, "To have a new vision of future, it has always first been
necessary to have a new vision of the past."
Resumos Relacionados
- Vanishing Acts
- The Old Man And The Sea
- The Old Man And The Sea
- Prasanthi Thoughts
- The Convict And The Colonel
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