SOURCE: Storr, Anthony. “Future Shlock.” Spectator 245, no. 7935 (9 August 1980): 18.

In the following review, Storr describes The Third Wave as “hyperbolic” and “sensational,” and questions several of Toffler's central ideas in the book.

According to [The Third Wave], man, that simple-minded hunter-gatherer, has been hit by three great waves. The First Wave is the invention of agriculture, starting about 8000 BC. From 1750 on, the West was overtaken by the Second Wave, which is, of course, industrialisation. Now, we are in the process of being assailed by the Third Wave, the revolution caused by the computer and the electronics industry. Toffler believes that the revolutionary power of the new technology has been underestimated; and he has written this book in order to convince us that we are, indeed, on the threshold of a new way of life. Toffler is no Cassandra. Although he sees many rocks ahead, he has faith that man...