The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire

In mere decades, printing boosted the production of books from hundreds to millions per year. Martin Luther leveraged Gutenberg's press to broadcast a new narrative that society's hallowed institutions served only to fatten their own hierarchies. Europe broke into Protestant and Catholic halves. War and refugee crises ignited continent-wide. The present age is a contest between the good and bad consequences of global entanglement and human development. After we each flourish or flounder, whether the 21st century goes down in the history books as one of humanity's best or worst depends on what we all do to promote possibilities and dampen dangers.