Publisher's Synopsis
Modern research into our human past has immense achievements, making possible a review of the whole sweep of human history and pre-history. Christopher Dawson (1889-1970) was a brilliant pioneer in the work of interpreting the various stages through which the shared life of humanity has unfolded.
Dawson's reflections led him to an understanding of the vast range of human cultures as the expression of the innate potentialities of our common humanity; and it is this underlying assumption that is the soul of his interpretation of cultural history.
Writing in the period between the two World Wars, Dawson saw an understanding of the workings of human society as 'probably the most vital scientific issue of our time'. The present work aims to make clear the nature of Dawson's contribution to this question.
