A New York Times Notable Book for 2011
Sometime around 1750, English entrepreneurs unleashed the astounding
energies of steam and coal, and the world was forever changed. The
emergence of factories, railroads, and gunboats propelled the West's
rise to power in the nineteenth century, and the development of
computers and nuclear weapons in the twentieth century secured its
global supremacy. Now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century,
many worry that the emerging economic power of China and India spells
the end of the West as a superpower. In order to understand this
possibility, we need to look back in time. Why has the West dominated
the globe for the past two hundred years, and will its power last?
Describing the patterns of human history, the archaeologist and
historian Ian Morris offers surprising new answers to both questions. It
is not, he reveals, differences of race or culture, or even the
strivings of great individuals, that explain Western dominance. It is
the effects of geography on the everyday efforts of ordinary people as
they deal with crises of resources, disease, migration, and climate. As
geography and human ingenuity continue to interact, the world will
change in astonishing ways, transforming Western rule in the process.
Deeply researched and brilliantly argued, Why the West Rules--for Now
spans fifty thousand years of history and offers fresh insights on
nearly every page. The book brings together the latest findings across
disciplines--from ancient history to neuroscience--not only to explain
why the West came to rule the world but also to predict what the future
will bring in the next hundred years.
