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Last Utopia of the Enlightenment Age by David Krus Cruise Scientific
book review by David Wilkening
"When analyzing Quincy Wright's data on frequency and intensity of warfare among the Western countries, we noticed a cycle... of about 200 years."
The author's search for what he calls the "Long Waves of Time" traces roughly 200-year eras from the domination of the Greco-Roman times in 313, when Christianity became the official state religion of the Roman Empire, to what he terms the "Resurgence of Religion in 1989," which was also the date of the fall of the Berlin Wall. His discussion of these various areas often turn into mini-profiles on some of the worlds most famous philosophers, highly influential thinkers and, inevitably, the dictators that have always dominated the history of conflict—among other intensely human activities.
These players in world history literally jump off the page because Krus does not dispassionately present condensed lives. Instead, Krus brings some little-known figures alive such as Jenny von Westphalen, who dated, exchanged letters and wed the father of communism, Karl Marx. She termed him her "teddy bear." Far more familiar to most readers is Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Unions Man of Steel. Readers may know that Stalin had a lot of blood on his hands, but they can't help but be delighted by such little-known facts as Stalin once wanted to be a priest or that the pockmarked dictator (the result of smallpox as a child) was also a caring father who wrote sensitive poetry.
In his well-thought-out closing pages, the author makes brilliant and evocative comparisons of communist and socialist governments. His provocative conclusions will be of interest to even casual readers who might not agree but who can't help but note he has done his research, including the forty references cited.