A Short History of the Future

1989 Wagar, W[alter] Warren (1932-2004). A Short History of the Future. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, with an “Afterword” by Immanuel Wallerstein (295-96), a genealogy of two families (297), and a chronology (299-305). xiv + 323 pp. 2^nd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1992, with a “Foreword to the Second Edition” (ix-x) indicating that substantial parts of three chapters had been rewritten, an “Afterword” by Immanuel Wallerstein (295-96), a genealogy of two families (298), and a chronology (299-305). xvi + 324 pp. 3^rd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1999, with the “Afterword” by Immanuel Wallerstein (295-96), the genealogy of two families (298), and the chronology (299-305). xviii + 324 pp.

A future history divided into three parts. In the first, current major trends are followed to one logical conclusion. In the second, a eutopian socialist, world state is developed. In the third, a small, decentralized utopia is envisioned. See also the author’s 1971 Building the City of Man Future and 1991 The Next Three Futures. The author was Professor of History at Binghamton University. He was a specialist on H. G. Wells and also published science fiction stories, some of which were utopian; see his 1986 “The Day of No-Judgement”; 1987 “The Night of No Joy”; 1988 “The Time of No Troubles”; and 1993 “Goodfood.”