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Below is a chapter from my upcoming book Humanity Is Beautiful: A New Story For A World On Fire. Paying members can follow along and watch the book emerge and evolve as I write it. View the Table of Contents of this "living draft" here.
By 1910, cities around the world were bustling with cars and teeming with skyscrapers, sewer systems, bridges, electricity, and countless astonishing feats of engineering. Public health was vastly improved. Child mortality was plummeting. Life expectancy was growing. For many, everyday life now had much more space for leisure, creative pursuits, and the possibility of self-discovery and expression.
“Progress” was thriving seemingly in every facet of life and every corner of the “civilized” world. In many's eyes, humanity was off to the races, on its way toward the perfect society.
But in 1914, that sense of hope and progress all came crashing down. The Great War, now known as World War I, erupted across Europe and around the world.
