The Unconquerable World

This book is a visionary work that explores the limits of violence and charts an unexpectedly hopeful course toward a nonviolent future. At times of global crisis, Jonathan Schell's writings have presented influential alternatives to conventional, dead-end thinking. His classic bestseller, The Fate of the Earth, was hailed by the New York Times as "an event of profound historical moment." Now, as the world stands once more on the brink of upheaval, Schell reenters the fray with a lucid, impassioned, provocative book that points the way out of the unparalleled devastation that marked the 20th century toward another, more peaceful path. Tracing the unlimited expansion of violence to its culmination in nuclear stalemate, Schell uncovers a simultaneous but little-noted history of nonviolent action at every level of political life. His historical journey turns up seeds of nonviolence even in the bloody revolutions of America, France, and Russia, as well as in the people's wars of China and Vietnam. And his investigations into familiar history -- from Gandhi's independence movement in India to the explosion of civic activity that brought about the unpredicted collapse of the Soviet Union -- suggest foundations of an entirely new kind on which to construct an enduring peace. At a time when all-out war, with its risk of human extinction, must cease to play the role of final arbiter, The Unconquerable World, a bold book of global significance, offers the only realistic hope of safety. - front/back jacket flap