The third revolution in human history--after the neolithic agrarian revolution and the modern industrial one--is the revolution of the professionals. Harold Perkin's brilliant new book examines the world's leading professional societies since World War II--the free market economies of the United States, Britain, France, West Germany, and Japan, and the defunct command economies of the Soviet Union and East Germany--and their domination by professional elites, notably state bureaucrats and corporate executives.

Perkins highlights their extraordinary achievements--the highest living standards and the longest, healthiest, most rewarding lives in human history--but warns of the self-destructive greed and corruption which threaten the future of us all.