Brief History of the Future, Jacques Attali, The Paperback Bookshop, Melbourne, Australia

Rarely has the world offered more promise to future generations, nor been more fraught with dangers. In this powerful and sometimes terrifying work, Attali analyses the past and pinpoints nine distinct periods of human history, each with its world centre of power and prestige - and predicts what the tenth will bring by the end of this century. Attali foresees the disappearance of individual countries and the dominance of a democratic world government. Will we leave our children and grandchildren a world that is not only viable but better? Or will we bequeath to them a planet that will be a living hell? Either way, he warns, the time to act is now. Rarely has the world offered more promise to future generations, nor been more fraught with dangers. In this powerful and sometimes terrifying work, Attali analyses the past and pinpoints nine distinct periods of human history, each with its world centre of power and prestige - and predicts what the tenth will bring by the end of this century. Attali foresees the disappearance of individual countries and the dominance of a democratic world government. Will we leave our children and grandchildren a world that is not only viable but better? Or will we bequeath to them a planet that will be a living hell? Either way, he warns, the time to act is now.