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Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century [Mass Market Paperback]

Alvin Toffler
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 1, 1991
Toffler argues that while headlines focus on shifts of power at the global level, equally significant shifts are taking place in our everyday world--supermarkets, hospitals, banks, television, and politics. As old antagonisms fade, Toffler identifies where the next, far more important world division will arise . . . between the "fast" and the "slow." "Thought-provoking on every page."--Newsday. HC: Bantam.

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Powershift: Knowledge, Wealth, and Violence at the Edge of the 21st Century + The Third Wave + Future Shock
Price for all three: $21.57

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Knowledge, not violence nor money, is the essence of power in the information age, claims Toffler ( Future Shock ) as he observes "info-wars" raging in such arenas as computers, high-definition TV, electronic networks, and industrial espionage, and the fight for control of customer data by retailers, manufacturers, banks and credit-card issuers. He hails the emerging "flex-firm," a company open to many types of free-form "counterbureaucratic" organization. Toffler credits junk-bond salesman Michael Milken with making finance more competitive and less monopolistic. Assessing the "power triad" of the U.S./Japan/Western Europe, he deems European nations the least stable link, with Germany gaining ascendancy. He looks warily at "Global Gladiators"--drug cartels, Khomeini, multinationals, the Pope--who challenge the boundaries of the nation-state. Toffler's inflated, slogan-slinging probe entertains as it serves up bytes of information and insight, some provocative, some facile.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Following Future Shock ( LJ 7/70) and The Third Wave ( LJ 4/1/80), this final volume of Toffler's trilogy on revolutionary change argues that the control of knowledge has become the principal means to create wealth and power. Aided by the widespread use of computers and other communications technologies, this "powershift," Toffler predicts, will dramatically alter the world's political balance. The superpowers will no longer dominate, since massive military power and control of natural resources will diminish in importance. Access to the latest information will allow developing countries to skip stages of economic growth. On the business level, executives will use knowledge as an instrument to gain control of their companies. Unfortunately, Toffler's thesis suffers from an unclear concept of power, failing to distinguish clearly between influence and the use or threat of force, and some of his claims about the power of knowledge seem exaggerated. The book's best feature is the wide range of information it contains, presented in an easy-to-read style. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/90.
- David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 640 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam (November 1, 1991)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 055318086X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553292152
  • ASIN: 0553292153
  • Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.4 x 7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #307,298 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
(19)
4.5 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Simply, the most comprehensive and clear view of the possible future I have ever experienced. I read the book in 1992 after having it sit on a bookshelf and collecting dust for over a year. I waited too long! This is one of the most powerful studies of the future which we are now experiencing. Many of the phenomena taking place around us are foreshadowed in this comprehensive and easy to read volume by Heidi and Alvin Toffler.

Clearly, they have looked into the future and given us a road map through which to navigate the post cold war information society which has grown like a virus out of control.

From economic boom (unparalleled post world war II economic expansion) to the rise in religious fanaticism and terrorist activity (including domestic terrorism as witnessed by the Federal Building, the World Trade Center and the attacks on numerous women's health clinics)to the acceleration of the information-communications driven economy ( the internet and its impact on wealth creation was no surprise to Powershift readers).

While many of the things that are foretold in this volume have come true, the open ended nature of those things is what makes reading this now so compelling. The advice and knowledge to be gained here is still valid. We are only in the top half of the first inning but the runs are being scored like mad!

This book serves as a great underpinning of understanding of the dynamics of the new world. Read this and you will be fascinated and energized by the possibilities of the future. The reading is easy and the writing is tight enough to give you the basic ideas and to allow your imagination and view of the future take flight.

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30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars One of Five Really Core Books on Information Age April 7, 2000
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Alvin augments our vocabulary with terms like "info-warrior", "eco-spasm", "super-symbolic economy" and "powershift." He examines the relationship between violence, wealth, and knowledge and concludes that an entirely new system of wealth creation is emerging, as well as entirely new approach to information dissemination that places most of our command and control, communications, computing, and intelligence (C4I) investment in the dump heap with the Edsels of the past. He anticipates both the emergence of information wars at all levels, and the demise of bureaucracy. He cautions us about the emerging power of the "Global Gladiators"-religions, corporations, and terrorists (nice little mix) and concludes that in order for nations to maintain their strategic edge, an effective intelligence apparatus will be a necessity and will "boom" in the 21st Century, with the privatization of intelligence being its most prominent break from the past.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Still Valid After all these years October 29, 2003
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I was fortunate enough to have been given this book to read almost 15 years ago. I was unfortunate enough not to have taken full advantage of the information inside it. I basically predicted Walmart's advance using the lowly Barcode, and the current problems that we are experiencing in the middle east due to fundamentalism - not moslem fundamentalism or christian fundamentalism, fundamentalism as a result of our fear of the inevitable pace of change as it increases evermore. The book is still relevant and I find my self quoting it and Mr. Toffler in discussions with friends and family on world affairs.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A real eye opening.
The time has come to realize this is the 'new reality'.A must read for those that wish to understand where WE are going.
Published 6 months ago by Richard Kiene
4.0 out of 5 stars Powershift: By Alvin Toffler [Mass Market Paperback]
Powershift is one of the best readers' books on new transformation at the edge of 21st Century with 25 assumptions on power, knowledge, wealth and violence. Read more
Published on December 9, 2010 by Hammad A. Ntungwabona
5.0 out of 5 stars In My Top 10 Books
Why should you read a book written almost 30 years ago? Because there are special people like the Toffler's that can see the future. Read more
Published on October 24, 2009 by John G. Jazwiec
5.0 out of 5 stars The Optimistic Jew
This final volume of Toffler's trilogy argues that the control of knowledge has become the principal means to create wealth and power. Read more
Published on August 31, 2007 by Tsvi Bisk
5.0 out of 5 stars Fifteen years later A different world. Toffler as the author of...
Toffler is the man who gave the world ' future shock'. He is one of the principal popularizers in helping the broader public understand the social implications of scientific and... Read more
Published on December 7, 2005 by Shalom Freedman
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
This is a great book though i read it in 2005, 15 years after its publishing!!! A great futuristic reading
Published on April 24, 2005 by Khaled KSH
4.0 out of 5 stars As good as it can get
Amazing insights .... coupled with relevant interlinking between the socio- eco - political environment ..... makes it an interesting reading. Read more
Published on October 18, 2004 by Avi
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book
All of Toffler's books are amazing. I can't say enough good things about them. Those who do not like his books are clearly just those types who hate anything that becomes too... Read more
Published on June 6, 2004
1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth reading
This book is a typical Toffler mishmash of speculation and rambling incoherencies. Even if you can get through the first few chapters, it's not worth whatever mark-down price the... Read more
Published on October 28, 2000
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading in every high school in America.
As in Future Shock, Toffler once again brilliantly lays out the future scenario. You'd swear this guy has a crystal ball, ESP, or some strange gift that allows him to write so... Read more
Published on December 15, 1999 by "rjgrib"
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