How We Got to the Moment that Just Passed: A Brief History to Help You Prepare for What's Next (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798218502980)

In engaging, relatable prose, How We Got to the Moment That Just Passed condenses the entire history of advanced human society -from the Agricultural Revolution to the 2024 presidential campaign-into 255 pages, throughout which nearly 100 images are interspersed. Each chapter serves as a stepping stone, leading the reader through a logical progression of events that have shaped our present society and prefigure our future --not as a mirror of our past, but rather as an extension of history's still-developing plot.

Thomas Lincoln has recently retired from teaching high school history, civics and contemporary issues in the Seattle area. He is also the author of Crossing Saturday Furlong - Lessons of a European Journey.

from the author:

I have written this book the way I taught my world history classes, using everyday language and occasional references young people can relate to. But it is really a book for any adult who wants a baseline history of how we got to the state we are in.

Maybe you have concerns about the direction of politics, the economy, technology or the health of the planet that cause you to wish you had more context for it all (and make you wish you had paid more attention in your own high school world history class).

Or maybe you did pay close attention and were inspired to learn more, but life and career have gotten in the way since then. You've had to fill your head with other things, and now you want an easy way to bridge the gaps in your understanding.

This isn't history for dummies; it is written to challenge ingrained perspectives -to provide the reader new angles of view, to potentially form new answers to questions like:

- How did we get to the present state of inequality in the world?

- How did our cultural differences develop?

- How did the modern political spectrum form?

- How did sub-Saharan Africa become so poor and racked by conflict?

- How did areas of the Middle East become so radicalized by religion?

History cannot only help us understand the present; it can help us engage with an even more important question: Where are we headed next? This book is for anyone who ponders that question, but it is dedicated above all to the generations who have the chance to write the answer.