The Third Revolution

The third revolution in human history--after the neolithic agrarian revolution and the modern industrial one--is the revolution of the professionals. Harold Perkin's brilliant new book examines the world's leading professional societies since World War II--the free market economies of the United States, Britain, France, West Germany, and Japan, and the defunct command economies of the Soviet Union and East Germany--and their domination by professional elites, notably state bureaucrats and corporate executives. Perkins highlights their extraordinary achievements--the highest living standards and the longest, healthiest, most rewarding lives in human history--but warns of the self-destructive greed and corruption which threaten the future of us all.

Harold Perkin is Professor of History and Higher Education at Northwestern University. Among his books are The Origins of Modern English Society, 1780-1880 (1969) and The Rise of Professional Society (1989).

Preface 1 THE THIRD SOCIAL REVOLUTION 2 THE UNITED STATES: A FREE MARKET FOR CORPORATIONS 3 BRITAIN: KEYSTONE OF THE ARCH 4 FRANCE: A PLANNED MERITOCRACY 5 GERMANY: TWO VERSIONS OF PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY 6 SOVIET RUSSIA: GULLIVER'S GIANT 7 JAPAN: A FLOATING WORLD 8 TOWARDS A GLOBAL PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY. EPILOGUE: WHAT IS TO BE DONE?