The Next 200 Years.

inscribed

First edition, first printing, a superb copy with an intriguing presentation inscription referencing Japanese culture.

The inscription reads, 'June 10, 1976 To Ed. In admiration, love, affection, friendship, and in an attempt to lighten slightly (in Japanese style) the "on" you have on me, Herman'. Kahn invokes the Japanese concept of Ōn 恩, a social framework that is characterised by an inherently un-repayable weight of obligation and gratitude, and thus the recipient must have been someone he valued highly.

Kahn had a prolonged intellectual connection with Japan, writing The Emerging Japanese Superstate in 1970 and The Japanese Challenge in 1979, predicting that the nation was well placed to challenge the United States for global supremacy in the 21st century. Also a physicist and nuclear strategist, he came to prominence for his 1960 book On Thermonuclear War, a controversial and intensely pragmatic approach to nuclear exchange published when he worked at the RAND Corporation, in which he posited nuclear war as 'winnable'. After selling 30000 copies in hardcover, the book shaped the conversation around nuclear weapons to such an extent that it had a notable impact on the formation of the American nuclear doctrine. Kahn is also regarded as one of the key inspirations behind Stanley Kubrick's infamous character, Dr. Strangelove.

The Next 200 Years offers an optimistic look into the future, arguing that technocapitalism will usher in an era of universally high living standards. Interestingly, it rejects the idea that overpopulation would become a threat to humanity, a theory thrust into the debate with the popularity of Dr Paul R. Ehrlich's The Population Bomb, published eight years prior.

First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper; 8vo; internally fresh; publisher's grey paper boards backed in yellow cloth, spine lettered in red, red endpapers, in the original printed dust jacket, very lightly toned with a crease to the rear panel, a near-fine copy; xv, [7], 241pp.