How civilization leads us to the meaning of life, not by discovery, but by invention.

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Brendan Cathbad Myers is the author of sixteen books in philosophy, environmental ethics, history of ideas, spirituality, urban fantasy fiction, and game design. Brendan is professor of philosophy at CEGEP Heritage College, Gatineau. He lives in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.

Brendan Myers is that rarest of creatures, a philosopher who writes in a style that is eminently readable, refreshingly jargon-free, not remotely patronising and, what's more, genuinely engaging. Rather than a dry, academic text, reading this gives one the feeling of sitting with the author in a warm room, probably with a glass of wine or a decent pint of real ale, and listening to him expound his ideas with pleasure and enthusiasm. In this case, those ideas are all about civilisation, asking what it is, if it is a good thing, and how we can make it better. Given the daily dose of depression drip-fed to us on every news bulletin, these are perhaps the most pressing questions of our age. In seeking to answer them, Myers demonstrates a remarkable breadth of knowledge of prehistory, history, politics and philosophy, from the earliest stirrings of humanity to the present day. That he can analyse with such clarity the seemingly chaotic mess we as a species have got ourselves into is remarkable in itself. Even moreso is that he is able to untangle the chaos sufficiently to draw from it causes for optimism and a plan for the future that might just see us thrive rather than merely survive. Anyone running for political office should not be allowed to do so until they have read this book. If this were done, the world would undoubtedly be a better, safer, saner place.

Philip Shallcrass, Founder and Chief of the British Druid Order

This is a very interesting discussion of one of the central issues of the current world, and indeed of all history, which puts under scrutiny a number of common assumptions which are seldom examined.

Ronald Hutton, Professor of History, Bristol University