The Poverty of Historicism

Karl Popper’s The Poverty of Historicism is one of the most important books on the social sciences to have appeared since the Second World War. It is also the work of one of the most original minds of the twentieth century. At the time of its first publication in 1957, it was hailed by Arthur Koestler as ‘probably the only book published this year which will outlive the century.’ A devastating criticism of the idea that there are fixed laws in history and that human beings are able to predict them, Popper dedicated the book to all those ‘who fell victim to the fascist and communist belief in Inexorable Laws of Historical Destiny.’ Short and beautifully written, it has inspired generations of intellectuals, policy makers and general readers alike and remains one of the best books for gaining an insight into the ideas of this great thinker.