Many personalities have contributed immensely towards the understanding of the concept of development. Economic development is one of the major pillars that are used in analysing the developmental status of a given nation or continent. A number of theories have been advanced to explain the general economic growth pattern. This paper seeks to provide a summary of the content of Chapter 6 in Gilbert Rist’s book, “The History of Development: From Western Origins to Global Faith”, written by Rostow. The essay will review Rostow’s theory of economic growth which he has categorised into five key stages. Furthermore, it will also highlight Rostow’s opinion on anti-communism versus Marxism without Marx. Finally, two more people, besides Rostow, with different perspectives of economic growth will be mentioned; Francois Perroux and Dudley Seers. Rostow’s work, just like other theorists, was very influential on policy development especially in the early 1960s. His theory developed initially from lectures that he used to deliver at Cambridge University in 1958 (Rist 93). The focus of the work was on addressing the challenges that were faced then, including European economy, and the impact of the then decolonised states on economy and development. Rostow’s aim was to ensure that a clear pattern of progress was developed towards successful modernisation by the countries of the world. As a result, a philosophy of history focusing on Rostow’s stages of economic growth was developed (Rist 94). The five categories in which a given society can lie are: the traditional society, the preconditions for take-off, the take-off, the drive to maturity, and the age of high mass-consumption. His witty use of words to create ‘development’ jargon contributed to the success of the book. Firstly, according to Rostow, traditional society is a form of degree zero of history corresponding to a natural state of ‘underdevelopment’ (Rist 95). He claims that this stage is characterised by the negligence of modern technology by some countries or regions resulting in significantly low-level production compared to other industrialised societies. ‘Primitive’ societies are depicted as fighting against scarcity and thus their need to embrace modern technological means of production. Secondly, the stage of ‘preconditions of take-off’ is characterised by the spread of the idea of the possibility of economic prosperity which is a necessity for other desired societal conditions (Rist 96). This belief results in the disintegration of the traditional societies leading to the creation of a ‘modern culture’. Take-off is the third stage in Rostow’s economic growth model. This stage is an interval between the old obstacles to steady progress and the eventual triumph (Rist 97). The take-off stage paves way for a steady economic growth in the society. The rise in commercialised production and extensive use of modern technology is a characteristic of the take-off stage. Fourthly, there is the ‘drive to maturity’ stage which comes immediately after the end of take-off with a period of about forty years in between before maturity is attained. At this level, the society has completely overcome the challenges faced at the traditional level, thanks to the use of new technologies (Rist 97). The last