A completely updated, revised edition of the classic, outfitted with a
whole new arsenal of indispensable knowledge on global affairs, popular
culture, economic trends, scientific principles, and modern arts. Here's
your chance to brush up on all those subjects you slept through in
school, reacquaint yourself with all the facts you once knew (then
promptly forgot), catch up on major developments in the world today, and
become the Renaissance man or woman you always knew you could be!
How do you tell the Balkans from the Caucasus? What's the difference
between fission and fusion? Whigs and Tories? Shiites and Sunnis?
Deduction and induction? Why aren't all Shakespearean comedies
necessarily thigh-slappers? What are transcendental numbers and what are
they good for? What really happened in Plato's cave? Is postmodernism
dead or just having a bad hair day? And for extra credit, when should
you use the adjective continual and when should you use continuous?
An Incomplete Education answers these and thousands of other questions
with incomparable wit, style, and clarity. American Studies, Art
History, Economics, Film, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Political
Science, Psychology, Religion, Science, and World History: Here's the
bottom line on each of these major disciplines, distilled to its essence
and served up with consummate flair.
In this revised edition you'll find a vitally expanded treatment of
international issues, reflecting the seismic geopolitical upheavals of
the past decade, from economic free-fall in South America to Central
Africa's world war, and from violent radicalization in the Muslim world
to the crucial trade agreements that are defining globalization for the
twenty-first century. And don't forget to read the section A Nervous
American's Guide to Living and Loving on Five Continents before you
answer a personal ad in the International Herald Tribune.
As delightful as it is illuminating, An Incomplete Education packs ten
thousand years of culture into a single superbly readable volume. This
is a book to celebrate, to share, to give and receive, to pore over and
browse through, and to return to again and again.
