From Barbarism to Civilisation

What do we mean by civilisation?
And what do we mean by barbarism?

It's time for a new history of the world.

Archaeology has made great advances in recent years, advances not only in discoveries, but also in ways of thinking, in ways of looking at the world - both the world today, and how the world worked in the past.

These discoveries - perhaps I should say these changes - have not yet been reflected in more general studies of the past. These pages are intended to do something about this, to build up a new history of the world, amalgamating both the new ideas from archaeology, together with the old truths from the past.

It is time to forget about Marx, whose ideas and pessimism underlie too many of today’s interpretations. It is time for a new look at the history of the world, based on the philosophies and optimism of the western world – the philosophies of Lock and Hume and Adam Smith; of Mill, and Hayek and Milton Friedman. These are the philosophies that predominate in the most successful parts of our great civilisation: is it not time to apply them to the past?

This web site represents a work in progress, a journey that is setting out to provide this new history: these pages will be added to gradually, link by link, as time and opportunity allows.

Main Texts

How Primitive economies work: Malinowski and the Trobriand Islands

Egypt: Some early notes on the rise of this great state (incomplete)

How market economies began: Greece.
Athens which adopted money, and
Sparta, which rejected money.

The Origins of Rome

Roman Britain

The French Revolution. Why money is important, and how inflation led to the Reign of Terror and destroyed the French Revolution

Others

The synopsis, taking a look at the broad overall sweep of the work: the road map ahead.

The underlying philosophy

Why 'Capitalism' is all wrong.

How the Industrial Revolution really came about

The Open society and its friends

The Open Society | Monetarism | Three bases | Distinguishing a market economy | From Barbarism to Civilisation?

Sundries

Click here for my main web site with Current Archaeology, and here if you want to know more about me.

Click here for some Notes on this web-site

Progress report: What's new on this web site.

Andrew Selkirk

Latest revision: 10th December 2006