Preparing for the 21st Century - Softcover

Kennedy's book is not so much about preparing for the next century, as about the extent to which we are quite unprepared for it... His style is clear, cautious – and chilling.'
BEN PIMLOTT, 'Guardian'

'For anyone who actually believes that history has ended, Paul Kennedy's book is a splendid antidote. To those who never imagined it had, it offers insight laced with warning. It argues that two fundamental forces will drive the world into the 21st century, namely, sex and science – more strictly, demography and technology ... And unlike most writers of polemic, Kennedy's quest for enlightenment on the future is rooted in understanding of the past... We owe him a bigger debt than most of us, who would never even have contemplated performing his Herculean task, can comprehend. This is a formidable work of syntheses to be read by all who seek a better sense of the challenges the 21st century will pose.'
DOUGLAS HAGUE, 'TES'

''Preparing for the Twenty-First Century' argues that the conflicts which troubled Malthus... confront us today with immeasurably greater force. The numbers are much bigger, the ecological risks much greater... and the technological uncertainties even more imponderable... What marks out Professor Kennedy's book is its astonishing range, cautious tone and the remarkable way it shepherds masses of information into a coherent argument... It is both exhilarating and depressing. The sweep and command of Kennedy's writing provides a refreshing break from the introverted, Gradgrindian obsessions of contemporary British politics.'
JOHN NAUGHTON, 'Observer'

'Kennedy deserves to be read, he deserves to be challenged, he deserves to be taken with the utmost seriousness. But above all he deserves to be thanked for his courage in stepping in to a field hitherto largely occupied by single-issue maniacs and pedlars of universal nostra.'
DONALD CAMERON WATT, 'The Times'

'Professor Kennedy is a high-minded and humane optimist... Though he has much with which to frighten us, he regularly spares us a verdict on the evidence he presents, ending his chapters on an admonitory note instead of with the apocalyptic conclusion the reader had been led to expect.'
JOHN KEEGAN, 'Daily Telegraph'