Ronald Wright (Author)

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Ronald Wright

Ronald Wright (* 1948 in London ) is a Canadian historian and writer . He studied archeology at Cambridge University and the University of Calgary , where he was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1996 .

His literary work includes novels and non-fiction books. A Scientific Romance / The Beauty of That Distant City is a sequel to HG Well's classic science-fiction novel The Time Machine , in which the protagonist visits the future world of 2500 after an ecological catastrophe. The title of the novel alludes to the early designation of science fiction as scientific romance .

In the four parts of A Short History of Progress / A Short History of Progress recapitulates Wright the sinking four historical civilizations ( Easter Island , Sumer , Mayan , Roman Empire ) due to the blind destruction of their livelihood. He notes that as complexity and size increase, the cost of doom increases. He sees existing global civilizations as standing at the crossroads between extinction and survival and questions the costs that would be associated with extinction.

Awards

  • "The David Higham Fiction Prize", "Sunday Times" Book of the Year 1998, "Globe and Mail Editor's Choice" (1995) for A Scientific Romance .
  • "The Andrew Gillen Award of Literary Excellence" (1996).
  • "Gordon Montador Award" (1993) for Stolen Continents .
  • "CBC Literary Award" (1991) for Going to the Wall .
  • Canadian Science Writers' Association Award (1986) for The Lamanai Enigma

Works

  • A brief history of progress. Novel. Translated by Monika Niehaus-Osterloh . Rowohlt, 2006 (A Short History of Progress, House of Anansi Press, 2004)
  • Stolen land: America from an Indian perspective since 1492. Transl. Ralph Tegtmeier . Westermann, 1992 (Stolen Continents, John Murray Publ. 1992)
  • Henderson's spear. Novel. Translated from Sophie Kreutzfeldt. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag dtv, 2004 (Henderson's Spear, Knopf Canada, 2001)
  • The beauty of that distant city. Novel. Translated from Lutz-W. Wolff. Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1998 (A Scientific Romance. Anchor, 1997)

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