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The Prophets of Doom
Linear and progressive views of history have dominated the popular imagination for the past seventy years in a worldview wedded to the inexorable rise of globalisation and GDP-growth at any cost. However, the end of the Cold War failed to produce the end of history as hoped, a fact brought home to many by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Material wealth and 'Progress' in the name of 'social justice' have not made people happier or more united but quite the opposite. Anxiety, depression, fearfulness, sadness, loneliness and anger have all massively increased since 1970, with the male suicide rate at an all-time high. Western society seems to be divided against itself across every line left versus right, women versus men, 'non-whites' versus 'whites', globalists versus populists, 'the elites' versus 'the people', people who think that men can be women and vice versa versus those who insist that they cannot, and so on. Seventy-three percent of Americans believe their country is on 'the wrong track', with similar views reflected in Britain and across Europe. The Prophets of Doom explores eleven thinkers who not only dared to contradict the dominant linear and progressive view of history, but also predicted many of the political and social maladies through which we are living.
234 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 2023
About the author
Neema Parvini
10 books110 followersNeema Parvini is a British academic, writer, and YouTuber. He is currently a senior fellow at the Centre of Heterodox Studies at the University of Buckingham. He is best known for his work on Elite Theory, especially his critique of populism in The Populist Delusion (2022), but is also noted as a literary scholar of Shakespeare.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
February 1, 2025
Very good and accessible overview of about a dozen doomsdayers. The earlier chapters over figures like Vico, Evola, and Spengler are much more enchanting and evocative than the cold calculation of intellectuals like Tainter and Turchin, which conclude the book. And while Pavini does a fantastic job of highlighting the theoretical commonalities of societal collapse between each of the thinkers presented, his most convincing argument is that prophetic writers of history provide a much more comprehensive and convincing argument when they are undeniably grounded in the artistic and mythic abstractions of human life.
January 13, 2024
A massive undertaking. Brilliant research and a keen understanding of how to explain the cyclical view of history through the eyes of some of the more complicated philosophers throughout western history. Understanding history in cycles rather than linearly will bring the current times into focus much more clearly. 5/5
February 19, 2025
In The Prophets of Doom (2023), Neema Parvini presents a compelling examination of cyclical theories of history, challenging the prevailing linear and progressive narratives that have dominated Western thought for decades. By analyzing the works of eleven thinkers who foresaw societal and civilizational decline, Parvini offers a nuanced perspective on contemporary global challenges.
Parvini organizes the book into chapters, each dedicated to a distinct thinker who espoused a cyclical view of history. The selected figures include Giambattista Vico, Thomas Carlyle, Oswald Spengler, Arnold Toynbee, Arthur de Gobineau, Brooks Adams, Julius Evola, John Bagot Glubb, Pitirim Sorokin, Joseph Tainter, and Peter Turchin. Through concise summaries, Parvini elucidates each thinker’s perspective on the rise and fall of civilizations, highlighting their commonalities and divergences.
For instance, Vico’s The New Science critiques Enlightenment rationalism and introduces a cyclical pattern of societal development, while Spengler’s The Decline of the West posits that cultures undergo life cycles akin to biological organisms. Tainter’s analysis of complex societies suggests that increasing complexity leads to diminishing returns, culminating in collapse. By juxtaposing these theories, Parvini underscores the recurrent themes of growth, decay, and renewal in human history.
Parvini’s work is commendable for its synthesis of diverse historical and philosophical perspectives into a coherent critique of progressive historiography. His accessible writing style renders complex theories comprehensible, making the book valuable to both scholars and general readers interested in historical cycles. As noted in Chronicles, Parvini “has rendered a considerable service to intellectual history by summarizing and comparing often unappetizing yet obviously urgent writings, providing a convenient conspectus of declinist thinking.” 
However, the book’s focus on predominantly Western male thinkers may be perceived as a limitation, potentially overlooking contributions from non-Western or female scholars who have also engaged with cyclical theories of history. Incorporating a more diverse range of perspectives could have enriched the analysis and provided a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
The Prophets of Doom offers a thought-provoking exploration of historical cycles, challenging the entrenched belief in linear progress. Parvini’s insightful analysis of eleven seminal thinkers provides a valuable framework for interpreting current global uncertainties and societal divisions. This work serves as a crucial resource for those seeking to understand the patterns of rise and decline that have shaped, and continue to shape, human civilizations.
GPT
Parvini organizes the book into chapters, each dedicated to a distinct thinker who espoused a cyclical view of history. The selected figures include Giambattista Vico, Thomas Carlyle, Oswald Spengler, Arnold Toynbee, Arthur de Gobineau, Brooks Adams, Julius Evola, John Bagot Glubb, Pitirim Sorokin, Joseph Tainter, and Peter Turchin. Through concise summaries, Parvini elucidates each thinker’s perspective on the rise and fall of civilizations, highlighting their commonalities and divergences.
For instance, Vico’s The New Science critiques Enlightenment rationalism and introduces a cyclical pattern of societal development, while Spengler’s The Decline of the West posits that cultures undergo life cycles akin to biological organisms. Tainter’s analysis of complex societies suggests that increasing complexity leads to diminishing returns, culminating in collapse. By juxtaposing these theories, Parvini underscores the recurrent themes of growth, decay, and renewal in human history.
Parvini’s work is commendable for its synthesis of diverse historical and philosophical perspectives into a coherent critique of progressive historiography. His accessible writing style renders complex theories comprehensible, making the book valuable to both scholars and general readers interested in historical cycles. As noted in Chronicles, Parvini “has rendered a considerable service to intellectual history by summarizing and comparing often unappetizing yet obviously urgent writings, providing a convenient conspectus of declinist thinking.” 
However, the book’s focus on predominantly Western male thinkers may be perceived as a limitation, potentially overlooking contributions from non-Western or female scholars who have also engaged with cyclical theories of history. Incorporating a more diverse range of perspectives could have enriched the analysis and provided a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.
The Prophets of Doom offers a thought-provoking exploration of historical cycles, challenging the entrenched belief in linear progress. Parvini’s insightful analysis of eleven seminal thinkers provides a valuable framework for interpreting current global uncertainties and societal divisions. This work serves as a crucial resource for those seeking to understand the patterns of rise and decline that have shaped, and continue to shape, human civilizations.
GPT
September 17, 2023
Another great book from Neema Parvini. He makes difficult topics easy to understand and read. There's lots of great thinkers in this book. A must buy.
June 12, 2025
A weird one. I found this recommended as an overview of some conservative thinkers on the idea of cyclical history. I knew a little of Spengler, Carlyle, and Toynbee, and I wanted to learn more.
Turns out, Parvini has other ideas, because below the gossamer-thin illusion of a disinterested overview of some key thinkers on the topic, Parvini in fact uses this little volume to push his confused fascist ideology. An irritating discovery that doesn't take long to uncover.
The apex of this deranged journey comes fairly early, with the chapter on Evola, which opens with the author placing himself in the unenviable position of attempting to persuade the reader that Evola is not a fascist and also that fascism is totally misunderstood and actually pretty cool! To achieve this, Parvini, as he is wont to do throughout this book, takes cover behind the words of others, in this case, variously, an underground cartoonist, a eugenicist, and an ethno-nationalist. Why you would attempt this with Evola is very mysterious to me as the man was clearly off the charts kooky, yet there I found myself, following Parvini with bemusement as he attempts to convey this unhinged lunatic’s rantings to me in all seriousness and Evola is just dribbling on and on about spiritual racism and new age nonsense.
I was fully checked out by this time, but I persisted anyway, even through the chapter on Glubbs, a “thinker” so vague, reactionary, and insubstantial that I have no idea why he was included.
Along with Evora, Gobbienau is afforded generous poetic license where his system of thought fails to correspond with reality and we're assured that when he talks of race and blood he isn't *really* talking of race and blood but merely a vital life force that animates the “savage”, “practical”, and “chivalric” man. The author freely invents these terms to replace Gobbienau’s “black”, “yellow”, and “white” races. A convenient but unusual step of reinterpretation that somehow fails to place me at ease.
Throughout this transparent and tedious exercise, Parvini strings together endless quotations on his subjects, so that his own writing barely breaks through, except to occasionally exit quotes by assuring the reader “This is mostly correct… This, again, is mostly correct” (what is somewhat incorrect about the quotes is never explained) and to draw lazy modern parallels that supposedly “prove” this or that thinker prophetic. This process only seems to prove that Parvini is incapable of independent thought.
The statistics that Parvini uses here and there are either poorly cited, overly opinionated, misconstrued, or all three. Checking the sources is good for a laugh, because Parvini is clearly incapable of accurately quoting or understanding any of them, such as when he confidently states that “Between 1972 and 2022, the number of marriages between men and women has decreased by 50 percent in the USA” while citing a stat for the UK. Curious also that Parvini leans so heavily on the Guardian as his news source. Something about fascists and sadomasochism, I suppose.
When I came to Brooks Adams' prophecy of an age of degeneration ruled by untrammelled capital and grifters, I couldn't help but think of Parvini and his website flogging courses (on the economy, no less) for hundreds of euros. Adams says, “But when the economy becomes ripe … greed is stimulated, and society produces Commercial and self-serving types.” Prophetic, indeed.
In short, Parvini seems uncomfortable in the present and dreams of a return to a time when the masses were ruled over by an Aryan aristocratic super race from the polar regions or something. I forget already. In any case, it has something to do with Davos and BLM. Good luck with the grift, Parvini!
Turns out, Parvini has other ideas, because below the gossamer-thin illusion of a disinterested overview of some key thinkers on the topic, Parvini in fact uses this little volume to push his confused fascist ideology. An irritating discovery that doesn't take long to uncover.
The apex of this deranged journey comes fairly early, with the chapter on Evola, which opens with the author placing himself in the unenviable position of attempting to persuade the reader that Evola is not a fascist and also that fascism is totally misunderstood and actually pretty cool! To achieve this, Parvini, as he is wont to do throughout this book, takes cover behind the words of others, in this case, variously, an underground cartoonist, a eugenicist, and an ethno-nationalist. Why you would attempt this with Evola is very mysterious to me as the man was clearly off the charts kooky, yet there I found myself, following Parvini with bemusement as he attempts to convey this unhinged lunatic’s rantings to me in all seriousness and Evola is just dribbling on and on about spiritual racism and new age nonsense.
I was fully checked out by this time, but I persisted anyway, even through the chapter on Glubbs, a “thinker” so vague, reactionary, and insubstantial that I have no idea why he was included.
Along with Evora, Gobbienau is afforded generous poetic license where his system of thought fails to correspond with reality and we're assured that when he talks of race and blood he isn't *really* talking of race and blood but merely a vital life force that animates the “savage”, “practical”, and “chivalric” man. The author freely invents these terms to replace Gobbienau’s “black”, “yellow”, and “white” races. A convenient but unusual step of reinterpretation that somehow fails to place me at ease.
Throughout this transparent and tedious exercise, Parvini strings together endless quotations on his subjects, so that his own writing barely breaks through, except to occasionally exit quotes by assuring the reader “This is mostly correct… This, again, is mostly correct” (what is somewhat incorrect about the quotes is never explained) and to draw lazy modern parallels that supposedly “prove” this or that thinker prophetic. This process only seems to prove that Parvini is incapable of independent thought.
The statistics that Parvini uses here and there are either poorly cited, overly opinionated, misconstrued, or all three. Checking the sources is good for a laugh, because Parvini is clearly incapable of accurately quoting or understanding any of them, such as when he confidently states that “Between 1972 and 2022, the number of marriages between men and women has decreased by 50 percent in the USA” while citing a stat for the UK. Curious also that Parvini leans so heavily on the Guardian as his news source. Something about fascists and sadomasochism, I suppose.
When I came to Brooks Adams' prophecy of an age of degeneration ruled by untrammelled capital and grifters, I couldn't help but think of Parvini and his website flogging courses (on the economy, no less) for hundreds of euros. Adams says, “But when the economy becomes ripe … greed is stimulated, and society produces Commercial and self-serving types.” Prophetic, indeed.
In short, Parvini seems uncomfortable in the present and dreams of a return to a time when the masses were ruled over by an Aryan aristocratic super race from the polar regions or something. I forget already. In any case, it has something to do with Davos and BLM. Good luck with the grift, Parvini!
June 5, 2025
I have read many of the thinkers featured here, not read a few, and hadnt even heard of one or two of them. As a practitioner of cyclic historiography ever since I discovered Ibn Khaldun in my undergraduate studies, I am glad someone made this book. Ignoring the premodern, the author focuses solely on more recent thinkers (and thus ignoring much of Chinese and Indian thought) who specifically existed in times and societies where cyclic thinking went against the grain.
The book is both valuable as an introduction to those new to these thinkers as well as a useful overview to see the greatest hits all compared side by side. From the complex (Spengler and Toynbee) to the robust (Turchin, Adams) to the ridiculous (Carlyle, Evola) and all kinds in between, it is fascinating.
One gripe I do have is that author, while entitled to his opinion of course, disavows his desire to editorialize in the beginning and then proceeds to do exactly that in many subsequent chapters. This produces mixed results but overall undermines the more neutral tone of the rest of the text with contemporary op-ed issues inserted at the end of certain chapters. Also, I get that Tainter can be an annoying reddit-tier thinker sometimes but nothing he does is as ridiculous as say Evola, who the author is far less critical of.
The book is both valuable as an introduction to those new to these thinkers as well as a useful overview to see the greatest hits all compared side by side. From the complex (Spengler and Toynbee) to the robust (Turchin, Adams) to the ridiculous (Carlyle, Evola) and all kinds in between, it is fascinating.
One gripe I do have is that author, while entitled to his opinion of course, disavows his desire to editorialize in the beginning and then proceeds to do exactly that in many subsequent chapters. This produces mixed results but overall undermines the more neutral tone of the rest of the text with contemporary op-ed issues inserted at the end of certain chapters. Also, I get that Tainter can be an annoying reddit-tier thinker sometimes but nothing he does is as ridiculous as say Evola, who the author is far less critical of.
December 3, 2023
Just like Neema's last book Prophets of doom is a succinct, readable, and somewhat opinionated summary of philosophers and "social scientists" who all come to a similar conclusion.
I found his explanations of the authors I've read to be quite accurate and well researched. And for the ones I have not read I feel as if I now understand the jist of what they were saying well.
There is one thing that depending on your view holds this book back from proper recognition or perhaps a benefit, is that Neema doesn't present this unbiasedly, he clearly has favourites and can be quite dismissive of criticism and points of some of the authors. He also like in his last book makes points that a lot of people would be turned off by (such as clear right wing views and January 6th defending.) I tend to agree with his beliefs and assertions but it will forever stop his books from being considered academic and pidginhole his audience.
I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Neema or any of the book's philosophers.
I found his explanations of the authors I've read to be quite accurate and well researched. And for the ones I have not read I feel as if I now understand the jist of what they were saying well.
There is one thing that depending on your view holds this book back from proper recognition or perhaps a benefit, is that Neema doesn't present this unbiasedly, he clearly has favourites and can be quite dismissive of criticism and points of some of the authors. He also like in his last book makes points that a lot of people would be turned off by (such as clear right wing views and January 6th defending.) I tend to agree with his beliefs and assertions but it will forever stop his books from being considered academic and pidginhole his audience.
I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in Neema or any of the book's philosophers.
September 10, 2023
Baby’s First Apocalypse
Read
August 7, 2024I wish that there had been some discussion of Chinese ideas about cyclical history. Seems like a big thing to ignore.
November 7, 2023
The Prophets of Doom (2023) är skriven av Neema Parvini som även går under namnet Academic Agent på youtube. Boken är del två av en tänkt trilogi (del ett är The Populist Delution som släpptes 2022) där författaren först utmanar den demokratiska myten, sedan den progressiva historiesynen och slutligen den officiella och regim-godtjända världsbilden efter 1945.
Alternativet till den progressiva historiesynen är självfallet cyklisk historia. Parvini undersöker tolv stycken ”domedagsprofeter” och deras syn på historia. Författaren är i vanlig ordning mästerlig när det kommer till att koka ner och summera massiva verk till någonting greppbart, koncist och pedagogiskt. Detta kan vi säga utifrån egen erfarenhet då vi har läst närmare hälften av de författare som behandlas i boken. Vi rekommenderar denna bok varmt, framförallt till de som är nyfikna på alternativa sätt att se historia på¨.
Vi ger författaren själv det sista ordet och låter honom sammanfatta och sammanställa sin slutsatser:
“Since most of the Prophets of Doom were largely ignorant of one another, and since those who were not sought to distinguish their differences, it is logical to conclude that the convergences represents some aspect of the truth being recognised independently by different observers. I will list the ten most prominent of these:
1. The Spark, the animating spirit of the early warrior caste, is distinct from the religion that comes to predominate and maintains the later multiethnic empire, which I will call The Imperial Altar.
2. Civilisational successes – such as conquest, wealth, art, education – generates their own loss conditions.
3. The Barbarism of Reflection destroys the foundations of the Imperial Altar and successfully kills any last remnants of The Spark.
4. The castes of the lion archetype (warriors and peasants) have mutual antagonisms with the castes of the fox archetype (priests or intellectuals and merchants).
5. Where the lion archetype predominates either as monarchism (warriors) or as Caeasarism (peasants) ´civilisational successes´ can be held in check for a period. They tend to create strong regimes through ruthlessness but such strength, ironically, leads to the managerial need for administration generated by growth and complexity, which in turn leads to the rise of elites of the fox archetype taking over.
6. When the fox archetype predominates, either as theocracy (priests/intellectuals) or plutarchy (merchants), ´civilisational success´ may accelerate but, in the process, the very foundations that facilitated such success in the first place (i.e. the strong regime maintained by the lion´s ruthlessness) are corroded, eventually leading to collapse.
7. Quantity has a quality all of its own, which manifests as all that is ´mass´: democracy, utilitarianism, standardisation, and the destruction of quality and distinction. This is a feature of the late, pre-collapse cycle.
8. Individuals of one civilisational season cannot embody the spirit of another: the Children of Winter, for example, cannot embody the Spring.
9. Civilisation is incommunicable. The ´world-feeling´of a people as Spengler says is ´not transferable´. ´What one people takes over from another – in “conversation” or in admiring feeling – is a name, dress, and mask for its own feeling, never the feeling of that other.
10. Ethnicity is a constant reality which promotes ingroup solidarity in the early cycle and becomes a problem for the ruling class to manage in the late cycle.”
Alternativet till den progressiva historiesynen är självfallet cyklisk historia. Parvini undersöker tolv stycken ”domedagsprofeter” och deras syn på historia. Författaren är i vanlig ordning mästerlig när det kommer till att koka ner och summera massiva verk till någonting greppbart, koncist och pedagogiskt. Detta kan vi säga utifrån egen erfarenhet då vi har läst närmare hälften av de författare som behandlas i boken. Vi rekommenderar denna bok varmt, framförallt till de som är nyfikna på alternativa sätt att se historia på¨.
Vi ger författaren själv det sista ordet och låter honom sammanfatta och sammanställa sin slutsatser:
“Since most of the Prophets of Doom were largely ignorant of one another, and since those who were not sought to distinguish their differences, it is logical to conclude that the convergences represents some aspect of the truth being recognised independently by different observers. I will list the ten most prominent of these:
1. The Spark, the animating spirit of the early warrior caste, is distinct from the religion that comes to predominate and maintains the later multiethnic empire, which I will call The Imperial Altar.
2. Civilisational successes – such as conquest, wealth, art, education – generates their own loss conditions.
3. The Barbarism of Reflection destroys the foundations of the Imperial Altar and successfully kills any last remnants of The Spark.
4. The castes of the lion archetype (warriors and peasants) have mutual antagonisms with the castes of the fox archetype (priests or intellectuals and merchants).
5. Where the lion archetype predominates either as monarchism (warriors) or as Caeasarism (peasants) ´civilisational successes´ can be held in check for a period. They tend to create strong regimes through ruthlessness but such strength, ironically, leads to the managerial need for administration generated by growth and complexity, which in turn leads to the rise of elites of the fox archetype taking over.
6. When the fox archetype predominates, either as theocracy (priests/intellectuals) or plutarchy (merchants), ´civilisational success´ may accelerate but, in the process, the very foundations that facilitated such success in the first place (i.e. the strong regime maintained by the lion´s ruthlessness) are corroded, eventually leading to collapse.
7. Quantity has a quality all of its own, which manifests as all that is ´mass´: democracy, utilitarianism, standardisation, and the destruction of quality and distinction. This is a feature of the late, pre-collapse cycle.
8. Individuals of one civilisational season cannot embody the spirit of another: the Children of Winter, for example, cannot embody the Spring.
9. Civilisation is incommunicable. The ´world-feeling´of a people as Spengler says is ´not transferable´. ´What one people takes over from another – in “conversation” or in admiring feeling – is a name, dress, and mask for its own feeling, never the feeling of that other.
10. Ethnicity is a constant reality which promotes ingroup solidarity in the early cycle and becomes a problem for the ruling class to manage in the late cycle.”
May 21, 2026
Wow, talk about a book that was well researched. It's relatively short considering all that went into it, but it is dense with philosophy and it's not for the faint of heart. Prophets of Doom showcases the theories of various men who believe history is cyclical, rather than continuously progressing. I appreciated being introduced to their findings, but because it was such a slog to get through, it gets three stars.
My brother recommended this book and it was an interesting read. Definitely one where I had to focus and remove distractions. No multitasking with this! The following notes are so I have something to reference when I talk to him about it.
....
The Polybian Anacylosis diagram is worth remembering as an overview. (Figure 1.1)
Giambattista Vico
If you want to understand the past, you have to understand the social and cultural context. pg. 26. He made the point that people and their ideas are products of the environment, and not completely independent and individual. pg. 27
Does freedom of speech breed unrestricted questioning? Is that good or bad? Does it destroy structure and unity, or create more equality and fairness?
Thomas Carlyle: His philosophy was that history is primarily the deeds of Great Men.
- Against liassez-faire economics
- Against utilitarianism
- Democracy is cowardly
- Society "passes through cycles much like the seasons of the year: autumnal periods when faith fades; wintry, 'decadent ages in which no Idea grows or blossoms', ages when 'Belief and Loyalty have passed away, and only the can't and false echo of them remains.'" pg. 46
- Believes revolutions have to happen
Arthur de Gobineau
Racist, but misunderstood? I'm not sure; his writings seem pretty straightforward. He's super pessimistic and wrote that civilization would decline despite the government's and religion's best efforts. Race to him meant 'spirit' and has been translated from black, yellow, and white to mean primal, practical, and chivalric. pg. 53 If these personalities mix, then they lose their potency and unique capabilities. pg. 55 Culture comes from the people, not from the place, not from the environment. pg. 60
Brooks Adams
He believed the strongest and most central human emotions were fear and greed. pg. 67 The cycle he saw was imagination led to religious/military/artistic leaders thay contributed to growth of culture. Then greed was stimulated and led to commercial, selfish leaders which started the decay of society. pg. 67-68
Oswald Spengler
Culture/civilation is like a plant. pg. 77 It's a living organism with cycles, like seasons. pg 79 In the future, the educated will have lost their feelings for language. pg. 82 "No value can survive beyond the civilization that produced it. Values are perishable...truth is relative to the context of the civilisation that posits it." pg. 82 Each culture has a 'soul.' Examples: Egypt - predestined life path. Chinese - meandering life path. Indian - world as illusion. pg. 83-84 Middle ages to him were a time of spiritual discovery. pg. 85 His theory of state has four classes: nobility, priesthood, bourgeoisie, the mass. pg. 87
Piritim Sorokin
Born a Russian peasant. Ran away from home at age 10, and got an education. Protested against tsarist movement. Big ego. Communists arrested him and he was exiled. Came to America. Joined faculty at University of Minnesota, then Harvard. Went from being highly respected in 1930's to shunned in the 1950's, all due to his cyclical view of history. His theory: individuals become systems through in four ways: spatial integration, integration by association, causal functional integration, and logico-meaningful integration. pg. 96 Societies didn't die out, but fluctuated between ideologies: ideational mentality and sensate mentality. pg. 97 His writings in the 1940's about the future of sensate American culture still rings true in the 2020's. pg. 99-100 quoted passage. He says, "The family as a sacred union of husband and wife, of parents and children will continue to disintegrate. Divorces and separations will increase until any profound difference between socially sanctioned marriages and illicit sex-relationship disappears. Children will be separated earlier and earlier from parents." pg. 101 Many more accurate quotes abojt mwntal health, hedonism, and the nature of our current society.
Arnold Toynbee
English middle class. Worked din government. Fashionable historian and generally well-received by the public, but wasn't popular with his colleagues. pg. 107 Civilzations develop due to challenge and response. pg. 108 His cycle:
1. Time of Troubles
2. Challenge and Response
3. Growth
4. Breakdown
5. Disintegration
6. Universal State
7. Universal Church. pg. 111
The chart on page 114 is interesting. It compares values in a disintegrating vs growing civilization. The book claims he was less original than the other "prophets."
Julius Evola
Born in Italy to Catholic parents. Served in WWI. Had an identity crisis, converted to Budhaism, then Italian Dadaism, then Traditionalism. Super right-wing in his philosophies. Believed in an Absolute Being and and other beings are "imperfect expressions of this single "Absolute". pg. 130 His history looks into the world of myth and magic in each culture. He feels we can learn about their level of transcendentalism by examining their legends. pg. 132 His view holds true to Hesiod's 4 stages: Golden Age (warrior priest), Silver Age (priestly class), Bronze age (warrior class), Iron Age. There are cycles within cycles. pg. 135 "Eventually the lowest caste, the ' workers' or 'servants' or 'slaves' or
proletariať ', come to predominate and, in the course, demolish all hat
is left of tradition in a spiritually bankrupt materialist and utilitarian leveling that glattens all before it in a downward trajectory towards the eventual destruction of the social order itself. pg. 136 The US was the biggest threat to Tradition, according to Evola. pg. 136 He believes Christianity was changed to fit the culture of Europe and the West. pg. 138 The crisis in the modern age was one of political authority because the 'warrior spirit' was predominant. pg. 139 America is dangerous because of it's "standardisation, conformism, democratic leveling, frantic overproduction...and petty materialism." pg. 140
John Bagot Glubb
English, but lived with and worked with Arabs/Middle East for a long time. He feels history should be viewed from the lens that we learn from it. He also believes that empires last ~250 years and keep the same pattern. pg. 146 The cycle to him has the empire growing, reaching a peak in power, then giving in to liberalism and decentralization of power, which led to its decline. pgs. 146-147 Empires are part of bigger civilizations. Compares empires to life cycle of a person. pg. 149 Eight or nine generations takes empires from pioneers to idle citizens of the welfare state. pg. 149 Total empire lifespan is 10 generations. "There does not appear to be any doubt that money is the agent which causes the decline of this strong, brave and self-confident people." pg. 151 To Glubb, the "brilliant but cynical intellectual appears at the opposite end of the spectrum from the emotional self-sacrifice of the hero or the martyr." pg. 152 In the final stage of an empire, heroes are no longer military leaders, statesmen, literary figures, but pop stars, comedians, actors. pg. 152
Joseph Tainter
UofU professor. Archeologist and anthropologist. He says "'increased sociopolitical complexity' causes 'rigidity and fragility while drawing off scarce resources' and this is a major cause of collapse." pg. 159 He takes an economists perspective of diminishing marginal returns and seems to think societies should live by it. Tainter takes swings at a bunch of previous prophets, but his criticisms don't carry much weight, because he says things like 'mysticism can't cause the end of civilizations', but economics isn't pure science because it has subjective (i.e. mystic) measurements.
Peter Turchin
University of Connecticut. Sought to bring mathematical modeling to these theories. His pattern: increase in population -> war and political instability -> depopulation -> political stability -> increase in population. pg. 179 States compete with elites for resources. pg. 180
My brother recommended this book and it was an interesting read. Definitely one where I had to focus and remove distractions. No multitasking with this! The following notes are so I have something to reference when I talk to him about it.
....
The Polybian Anacylosis diagram is worth remembering as an overview. (Figure 1.1)
Giambattista Vico
If you want to understand the past, you have to understand the social and cultural context. pg. 26. He made the point that people and their ideas are products of the environment, and not completely independent and individual. pg. 27
Does freedom of speech breed unrestricted questioning? Is that good or bad? Does it destroy structure and unity, or create more equality and fairness?
Thomas Carlyle: His philosophy was that history is primarily the deeds of Great Men.
- Against liassez-faire economics
- Against utilitarianism
- Democracy is cowardly
- Society "passes through cycles much like the seasons of the year: autumnal periods when faith fades; wintry, 'decadent ages in which no Idea grows or blossoms', ages when 'Belief and Loyalty have passed away, and only the can't and false echo of them remains.'" pg. 46
- Believes revolutions have to happen
Arthur de Gobineau
Racist, but misunderstood? I'm not sure; his writings seem pretty straightforward. He's super pessimistic and wrote that civilization would decline despite the government's and religion's best efforts. Race to him meant 'spirit' and has been translated from black, yellow, and white to mean primal, practical, and chivalric. pg. 53 If these personalities mix, then they lose their potency and unique capabilities. pg. 55 Culture comes from the people, not from the place, not from the environment. pg. 60
Brooks Adams
He believed the strongest and most central human emotions were fear and greed. pg. 67 The cycle he saw was imagination led to religious/military/artistic leaders thay contributed to growth of culture. Then greed was stimulated and led to commercial, selfish leaders which started the decay of society. pg. 67-68
Oswald Spengler
Culture/civilation is like a plant. pg. 77 It's a living organism with cycles, like seasons. pg 79 In the future, the educated will have lost their feelings for language. pg. 82 "No value can survive beyond the civilization that produced it. Values are perishable...truth is relative to the context of the civilisation that posits it." pg. 82 Each culture has a 'soul.' Examples: Egypt - predestined life path. Chinese - meandering life path. Indian - world as illusion. pg. 83-84 Middle ages to him were a time of spiritual discovery. pg. 85 His theory of state has four classes: nobility, priesthood, bourgeoisie, the mass. pg. 87
Piritim Sorokin
Born a Russian peasant. Ran away from home at age 10, and got an education. Protested against tsarist movement. Big ego. Communists arrested him and he was exiled. Came to America. Joined faculty at University of Minnesota, then Harvard. Went from being highly respected in 1930's to shunned in the 1950's, all due to his cyclical view of history. His theory: individuals become systems through in four ways: spatial integration, integration by association, causal functional integration, and logico-meaningful integration. pg. 96 Societies didn't die out, but fluctuated between ideologies: ideational mentality and sensate mentality. pg. 97 His writings in the 1940's about the future of sensate American culture still rings true in the 2020's. pg. 99-100 quoted passage. He says, "The family as a sacred union of husband and wife, of parents and children will continue to disintegrate. Divorces and separations will increase until any profound difference between socially sanctioned marriages and illicit sex-relationship disappears. Children will be separated earlier and earlier from parents." pg. 101 Many more accurate quotes abojt mwntal health, hedonism, and the nature of our current society.
Arnold Toynbee
English middle class. Worked din government. Fashionable historian and generally well-received by the public, but wasn't popular with his colleagues. pg. 107 Civilzations develop due to challenge and response. pg. 108 His cycle:
1. Time of Troubles
2. Challenge and Response
3. Growth
4. Breakdown
5. Disintegration
6. Universal State
7. Universal Church. pg. 111
The chart on page 114 is interesting. It compares values in a disintegrating vs growing civilization. The book claims he was less original than the other "prophets."
Julius Evola
Born in Italy to Catholic parents. Served in WWI. Had an identity crisis, converted to Budhaism, then Italian Dadaism, then Traditionalism. Super right-wing in his philosophies. Believed in an Absolute Being and and other beings are "imperfect expressions of this single "Absolute". pg. 130 His history looks into the world of myth and magic in each culture. He feels we can learn about their level of transcendentalism by examining their legends. pg. 132 His view holds true to Hesiod's 4 stages: Golden Age (warrior priest), Silver Age (priestly class), Bronze age (warrior class), Iron Age. There are cycles within cycles. pg. 135 "Eventually the lowest caste, the ' workers' or 'servants' or 'slaves' or
proletariať ', come to predominate and, in the course, demolish all hat
is left of tradition in a spiritually bankrupt materialist and utilitarian leveling that glattens all before it in a downward trajectory towards the eventual destruction of the social order itself. pg. 136 The US was the biggest threat to Tradition, according to Evola. pg. 136 He believes Christianity was changed to fit the culture of Europe and the West. pg. 138 The crisis in the modern age was one of political authority because the 'warrior spirit' was predominant. pg. 139 America is dangerous because of it's "standardisation, conformism, democratic leveling, frantic overproduction...and petty materialism." pg. 140
John Bagot Glubb
English, but lived with and worked with Arabs/Middle East for a long time. He feels history should be viewed from the lens that we learn from it. He also believes that empires last ~250 years and keep the same pattern. pg. 146 The cycle to him has the empire growing, reaching a peak in power, then giving in to liberalism and decentralization of power, which led to its decline. pgs. 146-147 Empires are part of bigger civilizations. Compares empires to life cycle of a person. pg. 149 Eight or nine generations takes empires from pioneers to idle citizens of the welfare state. pg. 149 Total empire lifespan is 10 generations. "There does not appear to be any doubt that money is the agent which causes the decline of this strong, brave and self-confident people." pg. 151 To Glubb, the "brilliant but cynical intellectual appears at the opposite end of the spectrum from the emotional self-sacrifice of the hero or the martyr." pg. 152 In the final stage of an empire, heroes are no longer military leaders, statesmen, literary figures, but pop stars, comedians, actors. pg. 152
Joseph Tainter
UofU professor. Archeologist and anthropologist. He says "'increased sociopolitical complexity' causes 'rigidity and fragility while drawing off scarce resources' and this is a major cause of collapse." pg. 159 He takes an economists perspective of diminishing marginal returns and seems to think societies should live by it. Tainter takes swings at a bunch of previous prophets, but his criticisms don't carry much weight, because he says things like 'mysticism can't cause the end of civilizations', but economics isn't pure science because it has subjective (i.e. mystic) measurements.
Peter Turchin
University of Connecticut. Sought to bring mathematical modeling to these theories. His pattern: increase in population -> war and political instability -> depopulation -> political stability -> increase in population. pg. 179 States compete with elites for resources. pg. 180
December 17, 2025
This book covers the ideas and work of eleven thinkers across time, with the specific focus on cyclical theories of history against the linear idea of progress, which is posited as a borrowed concept from the Christian eschatological view of Divine Providence. Not surprisingly, all cyclical theorists see themselves in the period of "doom", the 4th season of civilizations.
Cyclical views of history trace their roots to antiquity, both the Greco-Roman pagan view of life and ancient Hindus believed in cyclical theories. Linear views seem to emerge with the rise of Judeo-Christians.
Not all linear views are optimistic, such as the medieval Christian view, where it views everything becoming worse until the second coming. The optimistic and progressive views of civilization and history required the mental developments of Cartesian, Newtonian and Lockean thought, which enabled the belief in discoverable universal laws that in turn aid man to master his environment and himself, materially, morally and socially. Not much needs to be said on the effect of the Enlightenment.
The process of decay is explored and each thinker has his own idea, some suggesting an oscillation between eras, some suggesting a strict pattern of 4 seasons or 4 ages etc. On the method of decay, most thinkers are in agreement on some form of Regression of the Castes, which is term by Evola, where power slowly leaks over time to lower and lower castes below the Divine Leader who embodied both the warrior and priest class.
The interesting thing about the doomsayers was that they viewed the celebrated rise of Enlightenment and rationalism as the symptoms of downfall, as many of them viewed as a degradation of the martial warrior-spirit, the heroic, the poetic, the mythic, the felt sense of God that led the great chain of being. Not only that, they view this era of overt rationalization and cynical intellect as something that happened many times, with examples from history given - unlike the views someone like, say, David Deutsch, in his The Beginning of Infinity, would posit that we're living through a one-off mental development that is wholly unique in history and will take us to Infinity - which sounds like pure Enlightenment dogma, viewed from this perspective.
I'm in high favor of ruthlessly challenging our previously held beliefs, and honestly not sure which view is closer to truth. You can see my review of Deutsch's book to see how much I liked that one when I read it a couple of years ago, but something here rings true immediately, without much thought - wherein Deutsch had crystalline rationality.
Anyway, the most captivating thinkers here were Vico, Carlyle, Spengler and Evola (and honorable mention for Toynbee) - all of which I can't wait to read first hand. Overall a great introduction to these thinkers. Now get out!
Cyclical views of history trace their roots to antiquity, both the Greco-Roman pagan view of life and ancient Hindus believed in cyclical theories. Linear views seem to emerge with the rise of Judeo-Christians.
Not all linear views are optimistic, such as the medieval Christian view, where it views everything becoming worse until the second coming. The optimistic and progressive views of civilization and history required the mental developments of Cartesian, Newtonian and Lockean thought, which enabled the belief in discoverable universal laws that in turn aid man to master his environment and himself, materially, morally and socially. Not much needs to be said on the effect of the Enlightenment.
The process of decay is explored and each thinker has his own idea, some suggesting an oscillation between eras, some suggesting a strict pattern of 4 seasons or 4 ages etc. On the method of decay, most thinkers are in agreement on some form of Regression of the Castes, which is term by Evola, where power slowly leaks over time to lower and lower castes below the Divine Leader who embodied both the warrior and priest class.
The interesting thing about the doomsayers was that they viewed the celebrated rise of Enlightenment and rationalism as the symptoms of downfall, as many of them viewed as a degradation of the martial warrior-spirit, the heroic, the poetic, the mythic, the felt sense of God that led the great chain of being. Not only that, they view this era of overt rationalization and cynical intellect as something that happened many times, with examples from history given - unlike the views someone like, say, David Deutsch, in his The Beginning of Infinity, would posit that we're living through a one-off mental development that is wholly unique in history and will take us to Infinity - which sounds like pure Enlightenment dogma, viewed from this perspective.
I'm in high favor of ruthlessly challenging our previously held beliefs, and honestly not sure which view is closer to truth. You can see my review of Deutsch's book to see how much I liked that one when I read it a couple of years ago, but something here rings true immediately, without much thought - wherein Deutsch had crystalline rationality.
Anyway, the most captivating thinkers here were Vico, Carlyle, Spengler and Evola (and honorable mention for Toynbee) - all of which I can't wait to read first hand. Overall a great introduction to these thinkers. Now get out!
October 6, 2023
A New Pareto
Parvini, in dispassionate, crystalline prose, analyzes nine thinkers from various ages and disciplines and their arguments against progressive, linear understandings of history. Parvini is an excellent writer, able to tease out subtleties that a lesser writer may have overlooked. Highly recommended.
Parvini, in dispassionate, crystalline prose, analyzes nine thinkers from various ages and disciplines and their arguments against progressive, linear understandings of history. Parvini is an excellent writer, able to tease out subtleties that a lesser writer may have overlooked. Highly recommended.
January 1, 2024
I enjoy the succinct and clear depictions of each of the 12 prophet's theories. Vico and Spengler pique my interest in particular. It's an introductory text really, but I'm looking forward to reading the Author's original works in time. Well written and useful for understanding the situation we're in. 7/10.
March 14, 2026
Watch my review on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk3Ai...
June 13, 2026
I've been a recent fan of Parvini's work on YouTube and thought it would be good to finally dip my toe into some of his written work. The extensive bibliography has also been a great resource for finding books written by all the mentioned thinkers to add to my reading list!
PoD is a very clearly and concisely written book that provides a whistle-stop tour of the viewpoints of major (and some minor) Western Cyclical thinkers; the chapters on Vico, Toynbee, Evola and Glubb being the most interesting not least because I find them to be the most novel (if not necessarily correct) thinkers of the 12 presented. In particular, Glubb's grounding of his views on the history of the great Middle-Eastern Empires, of which he had deep knowledge of, was the most compelling approach to developing a Cyclical view on History.
This is related to my only major criticism of the book; there is basically no substantive discussion of the major Chinese dynasties. In Parvini's treatment of the 12 writers, with the exception of Spengler, none of them seem to be even aware of anything that exists south of the Gobi desert or east of the Hindu Kush! Given that the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', one of China's Four Great Classical novels, begins with,
"The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been."
There is no doubt a plethora of both classical and more modern thinkers who possess a Cyclical view of history, but alas it remains a gaping whole in PoD. Nonetheless, I would still recommend this to anyone interested in a more historically common view on history.
PoD is a very clearly and concisely written book that provides a whistle-stop tour of the viewpoints of major (and some minor) Western Cyclical thinkers; the chapters on Vico, Toynbee, Evola and Glubb being the most interesting not least because I find them to be the most novel (if not necessarily correct) thinkers of the 12 presented. In particular, Glubb's grounding of his views on the history of the great Middle-Eastern Empires, of which he had deep knowledge of, was the most compelling approach to developing a Cyclical view on History.
This is related to my only major criticism of the book; there is basically no substantive discussion of the major Chinese dynasties. In Parvini's treatment of the 12 writers, with the exception of Spengler, none of them seem to be even aware of anything that exists south of the Gobi desert or east of the Hindu Kush! Given that the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms', one of China's Four Great Classical novels, begins with,
"The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been."
There is no doubt a plethora of both classical and more modern thinkers who possess a Cyclical view of history, but alas it remains a gaping whole in PoD. Nonetheless, I would still recommend this to anyone interested in a more historically common view on history.
December 11, 2024
An insightful book that, through an exploration of a series of against-the-grain thinkers, provides an overview of the cyclical - as opposed to linear - theory of civilisational history.
In essence, what this means is that decay is "baked in", a necessary phase that invariably results from bureaucratic consolidation and material prosperity. The history of a given civilisation can be divided (broadly speaking) into stages of genesis, rise, decadence and fall, after which the same process repeats with a new civilisation taking its place. Parvini and the thinkers discussed give their own interpretations on how and why this happens - some taking a more "poetic" or "mystical" approach and others seeking to ground themselves in the empirical method. Parvini provides a comparative analysis of these thinkers and their works in order to identify a cohesive pattern running through them. Despite the conviction of certain modern figures that they were presenting an understanding of history that was distinct from their less empirically-minded predecessors, the book illustrates how they ultimately describe the same core processes but through differing lenses.
In essence, what this means is that decay is "baked in", a necessary phase that invariably results from bureaucratic consolidation and material prosperity. The history of a given civilisation can be divided (broadly speaking) into stages of genesis, rise, decadence and fall, after which the same process repeats with a new civilisation taking its place. Parvini and the thinkers discussed give their own interpretations on how and why this happens - some taking a more "poetic" or "mystical" approach and others seeking to ground themselves in the empirical method. Parvini provides a comparative analysis of these thinkers and their works in order to identify a cohesive pattern running through them. Despite the conviction of certain modern figures that they were presenting an understanding of history that was distinct from their less empirically-minded predecessors, the book illustrates how they ultimately describe the same core processes but through differing lenses.
April 3, 2026
Parvini's work on elite theory, the Populist Delusion, is a personal favorite of mine, a succinct yet enlightening primer to the world of metapolitics. Prophets is a spiritual sequel to that book, focusing rather on post-enlightenment exponents of the cyclical, or regressive, view of history. Beginning with Vico and ending with Turchin, he works in chronological order, interspersing biographical and ideological surveys with contemporary references and ideological bias despite the claim of 'value-free analysis'.
While this book, like its predecessor, is great for introducing young right wingers to obscure and controversial thinkers, it goes too far in trying to relate their individual beliefs when the author admits himself that they were at best tangentially inspired by each other. Only a cursory mention is made of Tradition; instead of spending a chapter on Turchin, a man who sought to profanize the works of Ibn Khaldun, perhaps devoting an entire chapter to the latter would have resulted in a more cohesive and illuminating work. Likewise, Guenon should have been featured in this book as more than just a passing reference to the 'reign of quantity'.
While this book, like its predecessor, is great for introducing young right wingers to obscure and controversial thinkers, it goes too far in trying to relate their individual beliefs when the author admits himself that they were at best tangentially inspired by each other. Only a cursory mention is made of Tradition; instead of spending a chapter on Turchin, a man who sought to profanize the works of Ibn Khaldun, perhaps devoting an entire chapter to the latter would have resulted in a more cohesive and illuminating work. Likewise, Guenon should have been featured in this book as more than just a passing reference to the 'reign of quantity'.
September 21, 2023
weird book, weird guy
but i admire his unusual choice of pessimists...
Toynbee the historian, with a few quirks
Evola the off the rails italian pervo-mystic weirdo and fascist
Glubb, the fave pal of King Hussein of Jordan, who got pushed out when the political climate got iffy, with some great views on the Middle East in the 1950s
has the feel of the Loompanics Corporation
actually
..........
The analysis is quite nutbar, but it's fascinating even if he's slightly off his rocker, and well, just as well since some of the Prophets of Doom on the cover are off their rocker.
I think the ideas and questions asked are far better than the third-rate interpretation and analysis...
And actually think i like the book for the idea of just picking a dozen different historical figures who cried wolf, and getting an eccentric author to deeply examine these people with a deeply flawed perspective.
For the pessimist, realist, or crank
who needs a stocking stuffer after the Halloween skeletons start snickering at YOU
but i admire his unusual choice of pessimists...
Toynbee the historian, with a few quirks
Evola the off the rails italian pervo-mystic weirdo and fascist
Glubb, the fave pal of King Hussein of Jordan, who got pushed out when the political climate got iffy, with some great views on the Middle East in the 1950s
has the feel of the Loompanics Corporation
actually
..........
The analysis is quite nutbar, but it's fascinating even if he's slightly off his rocker, and well, just as well since some of the Prophets of Doom on the cover are off their rocker.
I think the ideas and questions asked are far better than the third-rate interpretation and analysis...
And actually think i like the book for the idea of just picking a dozen different historical figures who cried wolf, and getting an eccentric author to deeply examine these people with a deeply flawed perspective.
For the pessimist, realist, or crank
who needs a stocking stuffer after the Halloween skeletons start snickering at YOU
July 15, 2024
Parvini presents an interesting collection of various thinkers who have presented some version of cyclic history, starting with Vico and spanning to many others such as Spengler, Toynbee and Evola. Giving first a brief history of cyclic history going back to ancient Greece, Parvini focuses on each thinker's major work (or in few cases on their general philosophy). As he states in the introduction very clearly, he has his bias against the linear/progressive view of history that has been enforced top down for several decades, and the book makes many strong arguments against it. It also gives you a good encouragement to read some of the original works.
October 22, 2025
Parvini insists he’s only “presenting perspectives,” but his bias is impossible to miss. His real message is that the modern world — with its liberalism, technology, and social progress — is in decay, and that the old “prophets” saw it coming.
There’s nothing wrong with critiquing modernity, but Parvini stacks the deck. He treats every thinker who lamented progress as profound, while ignoring how many of them were elitists, racists, or mystics who dressed up personal bitterness as philosophy. His chapter on Julius Evola, for example, tiptoes around the man’s open fascism as if it’s a minor footnote. That kind of intellectual carelessness undermines the entire book.
There’s nothing wrong with critiquing modernity, but Parvini stacks the deck. He treats every thinker who lamented progress as profound, while ignoring how many of them were elitists, racists, or mystics who dressed up personal bitterness as philosophy. His chapter on Julius Evola, for example, tiptoes around the man’s open fascism as if it’s a minor footnote. That kind of intellectual carelessness undermines the entire book.
October 14, 2024
Views of cyclical history from eleven intellectuals that gives cause for scrutiny of our established beliefs of linear societal evolution. A common thread is their skepticism of the notion of “Progress,” running counter to the modern absolute belief in that concept. The prophecies presented here seem much more apt to our modern condition than those from believers in progress from the past. An excellent primer for a bunch of different thinker's respective works.
More reading: https://chroniclesmagazine.org/review...
More reading: https://chroniclesmagazine.org/review...
October 4, 2023
an eminently readable survey of the major purveyors of the idea of "big history" and civilizational cycles (from Spengler, Toynbee to Tainter, Turchin with some Mosca/Pareto references thrown in). some poignant analogies are made to the undeniable current, fast-decaying social situation. breaks no real ground, but highly recommended.
January 27, 2024
Interesting investigation of the many attempts to get hold of history at the very big scale, the biggest that doesn’t lose the fact that it’s particular human beings that make everything happen.
I have to say, a editor was wanted here. Lots of small and irritating infelicities. Nothing catastrophic though.
I enjoyed the kind of 12 Days of Christmas chorus that builds up as each new thinker’s version of cyclical history is strung to the end of all that have come before.
As to finding a fractal key to history.. not sure. Much food for thought though.
I have to say, a editor was wanted here. Lots of small and irritating infelicities. Nothing catastrophic though.
I enjoyed the kind of 12 Days of Christmas chorus that builds up as each new thinker’s version of cyclical history is strung to the end of all that have come before.
As to finding a fractal key to history.. not sure. Much food for thought though.
January 27, 2024
Pretty good book overall, although not as interesting as the previous one. The constant comparisons between the ideas of all the "prophets" got a little tiring. Also a bit heavy on the quotations, sometimes it felt like I was just reading the stated opinions and ideas of other people rather than the authors' own.
January 21, 2026
A nice introduction to the contentious subject of 'cyclical history', covering and comparing twelve thinkers and their respective ideas. Certainly a useful initiator into the subject, given the excellent bibliographical sourcing. Many of the actual original texts covered can be expensive and/or tricky to track down and so the book is fertile as a cursory overview into the study.
June 19, 2024
Fantastic overview of various thinkers views on the cyclical theory of civilizations. Featured writers such as Thomas Carlyle, Oswald Spengler and Arnold Toynbee I found particularly interesting. I will have to read their writings in further detail
July 23, 2024
An interesting look at nine philosophers/historians and their 'romantic' accounts of cyclical history - the rise and fall of civilisations, in cycles.
Would serve as an excellent primer for each philosopher respective works.
Would serve as an excellent primer for each philosopher respective works.
February 3, 2025
The book was overall insightful and informative, but would have been more impactful with more "for instance he thought that" type comments, to more specifically articulate what a person thought practically, rather than sticking to broader abstractions.
May 12, 2026
While admitted that Biden’s administration may well have been the false reprieve preceding the actual disaster and also that I’m less of a fan of him the further we get away from the times he’s a product of, criticism of him remains the laziest part of the right wing analysis.
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