“An irresistible cycle seemed to operate, repeating patterns of the ancient world where civil strife and war brought disaster… I surmised that patterned and predictable changes were in turn rooted in the very nature of civilization—the ineluctable breaker of custom and eroder of moral codes, and itself a product and expression of rapid technological and social change.”

— William H. McNeill

The Pursuit of Truth: A Historian's Memoir (2005)

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William H. McNeill 43

Canadian historian 1917–2016

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