Pendulum

Publisher's Summary

Politics, manners, humor, sexuality, wealth, even our definitions of success are periodically renegotiated based on the new values society chooses to use as a lens to judge what is acceptable.

Are these new values randomly chosen or is there a pattern? Pendulum chronicles the stuttering history of western society; that endless back-and-forth swing between one excess and another, always reminded of what we left behind.

There is a pattern and it is forty years: 2003 was a fulcrum year, as was 1963, its opposite.

Pendulum explains where we have been as a society, how we got here, and where we are headed. If you would benefit from a peek into the future, you would do well to listen to this book.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2012 Roy H. Williams & Michael R. Drew (P)2012 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Pendulum offers fascinating insights into the surprises and revelations of shifting social trends throughout history. Roy H. Williams and Michael Drew answer the age-old question: What makes us tick?" (Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive)

Fascinating book

I heard about this book on Glenn Beck's show and he had the authors on for an interview. It is fascinating to see the cycles a society goes through and maybe some warning signs will appear to make the extremes not so extreme.

I highly recommend this book

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Fast forward to the last two chapters.

This book does a terrible job giving examples of why history repeats itself. It tries to re-package the idea of “history repeating itself” or historical cycles humans have gone thru since the beginning of time ; example (which is not in the book —Rome, Spain and
England all were as the United States started ...conquering, successful and growing in wealth. All those countries lost world power for many reasons—one of them is when they began to borrow to the point of bankrupting themselves just as The United States is doing today...which will eventually collapse our government and the United States will cease to be a World Power, just as Rome, Spain and England once were the world power and are no more. If you do buy this book ...fast forward to the last two chapters —I forced myself to listen to entire book hoping it would redeem itself at some point...this book is essentially a waste of time...the only decent portion are the last few chapters....not great ...just decent.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Read by a radio announcer

Content is interesting but the performance is over the top. It's as if a top 10 radio announcer is reading the book to you. Plus there are two other choices that randomly pop in and it breaks the flow.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Thought Provoking Read

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Enjoying it a second time, taking notes and doing my own research.

this should be a podcast

this should be a podcast and nothing more just a simple radio interview would have covered the details. me and I we and they yada yada yada....

Just finished and starting again!

I just finished and am starting again! A bit challenging for me without the visuals, though.

An excellent theory to consider.

As we wander through these interesting times this theory gives us all a lot to factor in and consider. I found it very beneficial.

Veeereey interesting

The cycle seems clear, and the prophets always call it. Too bad no one ever listens.

Eye Opening!!

Had a hunch that there was something like this going. After listening to this book it has clerified these cycles! There is invaluable information and examples here. I'm going to go buy the hard copy to keep and refer to!

A great book to understand the nature of marketing

I liked the book very much. It clearly lays out how there is a cycle to marketing and how companies need to see this coming to adapt to the market changes.

Fascinating food for thought

The authors do an amazing job of setting out the theory and then take you on a rollercoaster of a journey through time to plot events against it. It's a fascinating theory that is brought into sharp focus based on the approaching zenith of the We (season of witch hunts) and current world events.

One particular aspect of this book I like is that it's written from a marketing perspective but from the point of view that to be successful you have to understand your audience. When your audience is humanity it ends up becoming a very interesting subject on many levels including economic, religious, and sociopolitical without directly being tied to one or the other. Highly recommended!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful