{"product_id":"9784871873499","title":"The Evolution of Civilizations An Introduction to Historical Analysis","description":"Carroll Quigley was a legendary teacher at the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. His course on the history of civilization was extra-ordinary in its scope and on its impact on its students.\u003cbr\u003eLike the course, the Evolution of Civilizations is a comprehensive and perspective look at the factors behind the rise and fall of civilizations. Quigley examines the application scientific method to the social sciences. He poses a division of culture into six levels, from the more abstract to the more concrete - intellectual, religious, social, political, economic and military. - and he identifies seven stages of historical change for all civilizations: mixture, gestation, expansion, conflict, universal empire, decay and invasion. He tests these hypothesis by a detailed analysis of five major civilizations: the Mesopotamian, the Canaanite, the Minoan, the classical, and the Western. Quigley defines a civilization as \"a producing society with an instrument of expansion.\" A civilization's decline is not inevitable but occurs when its instrument of expansion is transformed into an institution--that is, when social arrangements that meet real social needs are transformed into social institutions serving their own purposes regardless of real social needs.","brand":"Ishi Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47036084519152,"sku":"9784871873499","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9784871873499_p0.jpg?v=1763715297","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9784871873499","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}