[In the following excerpt, Pierce favorably reviews The Law of Civilization and Decay.]

It might be thought unnecessary to describe the contents of a book which was first published almost half a century ago, which appeared in two foreign languages and in several editions and reprints, and which is declared by Mr. Charles A. Beard, who now introduces it, to be "among the outstanding documents of intellectual history in the United States and, in a way, the Western World"; yet the reviewer knew a young historian a few years ago who had recently finished writing a volume on the decline of ancient Rome and had never heard of Brooks Adams' thesis. There are some books which run so counter to the prevailing tendencies, or influences, of the society in which they appear, that it is possible, in spite of the many great qualities that they may possess, for something approaching a conspiracy of silence to develop against them and gradually bury them in oblivion. It is impossible to know to what extent, if at all, the present study was subjected to such a process; but there can be little doubt that many of its pronouncements are of the kind that would certainly have aroused during recent decades a wide and deep hostility.

The theme of The Law of Civilization and Decay is the course of history from the days of the Roman Republic down to the nineties of the last century; yet less emphasis is placed upon the occurrences that actually make up that course than upon the nature of the course itself, and the reasons why it prevailed. Thus there are vast stretches and regions of history, even within the selected field, to which little or no reference is made; and only those sections of the historical process are described which seemed to the author most clearly to illustrate the nature and tendencies of the process as a whole. The events dealt with are indicated by the titles of the chapters: "The Romans", "The Middle Age", "The First Crusade", "The Second Crusade", "The Fall of Constantinople", "The Suppression of the Temple", "The English Reformation", "The Suppression of the Convents", "The Eviction of the Yeomen", "Spain and India", "Modern Centralization". But throughout these chapters much of the space is given over to a description and discussion of the theory which is being brought out or maintained; and a final chapter, "Conclusion", is similarly divided between fact and theory. Perhaps a historical work of this kind, in which occurrences are presented essentially with a view to expounding and emphasizing certain principles, might best be described as "a philosophy of history".

What makes the volume interesting and valuable today, however, is not so much the "philosophy" which was ostensibly its main purpose, as the history which was utilized to support the theory. It is still probably true that, for the vast majority of people who in one way or another come into contact with history as it may be studied and known, many of those events which are most significant for a true understanding of the past remain hidden, or are so misrepresented by various "interpretations" as to lose most of their real significance; and to no class of events is this observation more applicable than to those which belong to what is generally called the "economic" sphere. It was in such happenings, largely connected with the ownership and operation of various forms of wealth, that Brooks Adams sought to discover a formula or "law" to account for the main course of history down to his own time; and the facts which he utilized to carry out his purpose are still well worth the concentrated attention of all students who would attempt to know how the present state of mankind came about, and especially of those who have been partially befogged by various "official" histories.

Unfortunately much of the theory of the book tends to defeat what must have been the fundamental purpose of the author; namely, to use the past as a guide or a warning for the future. A contemptuous repudiation of religion as magic, superstition or greed is not likely to inspire confidence in an author among logical-minded readers; and an explanation of the course of history which ascribes all change to the operation of inexorable "natural laws" contains its own refutation. Everyone has a religion, even if it be only a worship of self, or a machine or "the laws of nature"; and if human conduct is inevitable, so, too, are explanations of history, and truth and falsity do not exist.

Such weaknesses, however, may be ascribed largely to Brooks Adams' background and environment and the age in which he lived. They should not be allowed to detract unduly from the real greatness of his work which was undoubtedly inspired by honest motives and which was carried through painstakingly and brilliantly. Merely as evidence in the history of ideas in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the Law is well worth reading, and this value is greatly enhanced in the present edition by Mr. Beard's masterly Introduction.