Holding Up a Mirror: How Civilizations Decline

By Anne Glyn-Jones

Book Overview

The good news is: that faith in material goods really does bring prosperity to society. The bad news is: that self-same commitment to material things leads inexorably to the destruction of the civilizations it builds. Using theatre as a measure society's health, this book shows that Ancient Greece and Rome, Mediaeval Christendom and our own contemporary society all follow the same pattern: prosperity thrives on the conviction that the material world alone constitutes true 'reality'; but that very conviction leads to a rejection of the supernatural, undermines absolute moral standards, and leads to cultural and social disintegration.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0907845606
• ISBN13: 9780907845607
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: Imprint Academic (Ips)
• Length: 652 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.3" x 9.2"