In this unorthodox and trail-blazing work Graeme Snooks argues that it is possible to construct a scientific theory of human history, but only if we adopt a radically materialist theory of human nature.

This is an original and controversial reflection on the course of human history and a remarkable attempt to develop a scientific model of laws for the social sciences. It: * considers the nature of laws and the reasons we might expect to find them in history * employs an underlying framework concerning societal dynamics, historical change, and institutional change, which are in fact the laws of history. This volume consolidates the author's previous research in The Dynamic Society and The Ephemeral Civilization.