The Third Millenium

I originally picked this book up back when it was published in 1985. Stableford and Langford have put together a futuristic history book looking backwards from the year 3000 A.D.The book it broken out in sections that cover 200-300 years of time. For example, the years 2000-2190 are called The years of Crisis, as civillization is taken to the brink of conventional, nuclear and biological war. The predictions are presented like news articles. They cover global events, economic stituations, entertainment, and medical advances.Its interesting at some of the future concepts that the authors posed back in 1985 in retrospect of the present."The Third Millenium" theorizes that more 3rd world-like countries will have nuclear weapons. Countries like Brazil, Argentina and Iraq or all places will have nuclear weapons. Its interesting, since when the book was published, Iraq was friendly toward the United States. In no way could the authors predict the current world situation.Same goes for medical situations in 2050 A.D. as a AIDs-like virus is prevalent and cured in the span of 10-20 years. AIDs was still relatively unknown when the book was published.Later centuries cover the "Age Of Recovery", as civillization start to merge into one world governments, and strides are made in peace and prosperity. The UN is speculated as contributing a large role as the peacekeepers of the world and humanity.The final three centuries deal with "Age Of Transformation", as science prevails in curing most diseases, discovering immortality, to creating new life-forms. The approach takes on that no other intelligent "alien" life has been dicovered, implying that perhaps we are alone in the universe.I did, however, have a problem with the Christianity bashing the authors sprinkle in their book.The year 2000 has come and gone. Christ hasn't returned, so people have lost their faith in Christianity. They discover that religion is just pablum for the masses, which in this day and age after Sept 11th, is the direct opposite. Stableford and Langford selve Christianity with Maxisim, saying they are both doomed belief systems. In their universe, in the 1000 year span they cover, Christ has never returned. So therefore if Chist never returns, then Christianity is false. I couldn't disagree more with that assumption. If they disagree with the bible that is one thing, but at least know about your subject matter before making an attempt to invalidate it. Jesus never gave a date when he would return. "I will come like a thief in the night" he said. Do you know when a thief will strike your house? No, I think not.

Unlike many books in this genre, "The Third Millennium" succeeds in conveying the illusion of a real historical account. In fact, this is the only book I've ever seen which truly deserves the name "a fictional future HISTORY".The steady progress from the turmoiled 21st century to the utopia-like 30th, is portrayed with incredibe realism and vividness. If I'd want to give this book a rating solely as a work of fiction, I would have given it 6 stars...But "The Third Millennium" is not a mere work of fiction. As the authors point out on the back cover, it is a serious attempt to portray a realistic future of the real World. And in this respect, the book suffers from one fatal flaw: In terms of absolute dates, the progress of events is agonizingly slow.A few events and their dates would make this complaint clear. In this book, fusion energy is harnessed only in 2054 AD, and becomes dominant near 2180 AD. Genetic engineering in humans begin after 2227 AD. Unmanned probes to nearby stars, powered by nuclear fusion, are launched only in the 26th century...Very slow indeed.A more understandable glitch is the failure to predict the fall of the USSR. In this book, the cold war continues well into the 22nd century.Since no one in their right minds thought in 1985 that the USSR is going down in the near future, I do not hold this particular mistake against the authors. But the agonizingly slow progress of technology in their scenario is something I will not forgive that easily.It is this sluggish pace of progress is what turns this book from "a perfect masterpiece" to "a great idea ruined by one bad call".And what a masterpiece it would have been! After all, there aren't many works that get a rating of 4 stars after being ruined, are there?

The authors of this book, while not getting every little nuance of the future correct (I am writing this 12 years after the book was published and have read it several times, the first time 4 years ago) have presented a very plausable and believeable future that people can look forward to. This story of the future is not glorious like star trek, or bleak like the road warrior. It is the story of humans learning and fumbling there way through life, as they have always done. It is the most believeable picture of the future I have read even though it is so old. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in what challenges lie ahead for us, and how we will respond. I have often wondered if the authors will update the book, including new findings and ensights, but have not heard anything yet. enjoy!! I can be reached an [email protected].