This book is intended as a survivor's guide to turn-of-the-century and millennial furor. It offers data about events and relevant cultural traditions in the past and a framework within which to consider how we will interpret the waning age and how we can sensibly look ahead.Preface to the Paperback Edition -- Preface to the First Edition -- The Millennium and Thinking About Time -- The Millennium in Perspective -- The Struggle for a Christian Calendar -- The Year 1000: Real and Imagined Precedents -- Refining the Calendar: Visions and Centuries, 12001850 -- Apocalypse Now? -- Assessing and Forecasting Millennia: Beyond the Apocalypse -- Transition: From Millennia to Centuries -- Turning the Century -- Hailing the 20th Century: Fireworks and Fin de Si?cle -- Where Is Our Fin de Si?cle? -- The 20th Century: Guidelines for the Retrospective -- Forecasting the 21st Century -- Conclusion -- Postscript: Getting Ever Closer -- For Further Reading