Brimming with positive spirit and alive with the possibilities modernism, these lectures, written and delivered amid the unrest of World War I, explore from a new perspective the relentless drive of human history.

Emphasizing the human aspect of everything civilization has achieved-and the human aspects that have held it back-American theologian and divinity school dean SHAILER MATHEWS (1863-1941) discusses how everything from individual personalities to moral, religious, and artistic ideals can also serve as engines of change apart from the more typically considered economic and military ones.

First published in 1916 (this is a replica of the 1919 third edition), this inspiring and insightful book will intrigue history buffs and philosophers of the human condition.