Lifelines from Our Past

by Leften Stavros Stavrianos

This book offers an extraordinary interpretation of world history, from the paleolithic era to the present. Renowned historian L.S. Stavrianos conceptualizes human history into three kinship societies, tributary societies, and capitalist societies. In each, he discerns and studies four "life-line" issues - ecology, gender relations, social relations, and war - that encompass the broadest areas of human experience. The revised edition projects forward to the twenty-first century, offering the author's views on possible future scenarios involving the same lifeline issues.

Genres: History

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 27, 1990

Reviews

[Donitello]

Intriguing approach to world history: No dates, no kings, no wars. Instead, a categorizing of human societies into 3 groups: Kinship, Tributary, and Capitalist. For the layperson, this approach makes a lot more sense than the traditional one, since it allows us to see societal PATTERNS without the distractions of individual national "events." I loved this book!