Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents :Part 1: An old question asked anew -- Our pessimism -- The weakness of strong states 1-- The weakness of strong states 11 -- Eating pineapples on the moon The worldwide liberal revolution -- Part II: The old age of mankind : An idea for a Universal history -- The mechanism of desire -- No barbarians at the gates -- Accumulation without end -- The victory of the VCR -- In the land of education -- The former question answered -- No democracy without democrats -- PART III: The struggle for recognition: In the beginning, a battle to the death for the purple prestige -- The first man -- A vacation in Bulgaria -- The beast with red cheeks -- The rise and fall of Thymos -- Lordship and bondage -- The universal and homogeneous state -- Part IV: Leaping over Rhodes: The Goldest of all Gold monsters -- The thymotic origins of work -- Empires of resentment,Empires of defense -- The unreality of "Realism" -- The power of the powerless -- National interests -- Toward a pacific union -- Part V: The last man: In the realm of freedom -- Men without chests -- Free and unequal -- perfect rights and defective duties -- Immense wars of the spirit -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.