Book excerpt: For more than 2500 years mankind has been on an insatiable quest, one that has only temporarily been realized in a few locations and for fleeting moments. That quest is for concord; that idyllic state of affairs in which neither tyranny reigns, nor chaos rules. Why should peace and harmony among the citizens of the earth be so elusive? And more importantly, how can the lessons from the answers to these questions be used to, once and for all, establish society on a firm foundation of freedom and justice for all? The answers to these questions are tantalizingly presented in the pages of this book. Orrin Woodward combines staggering scholarship and boundless creativity to distill the lessons of two and a half millennia into a concise picture. This book will present the reader with a clear comprehension of the root of the trouble, and then lead to the historical underpinnings that, once understood, provide the final resolution of the quest.