Why the West Rules-for Now

A story 50,000 years in the making, set to become a modern classic of world history. Ian Morris reveals that it is not differences in race or culture, or even the strivings of great individuals that explain Western dominance, but the effects of geography on the everyday efforts of ordinary people. It is the fascinating story of how civilization got here in the first place and where we may be going.

Informationen zum Autor Ian Morris Klappentext A "New York Times" Bestseller An "Economist" Best Book of the Year A story fifty thousand years in the making! "Why the West Rules--for Now" claims a place among the modern classics of world history. Author Ian Morris--polymath! internationally renowned scholar! and "the world's most talented ancient historian" (Niall Ferguson)--explains anew the story of Western dominance in this unified theory of all things geopolitical. Describing the patterns of human history! Morris 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 next hundred years will bring. At once vibrant! scholarly! and entertaining! "Why the West Rules--for Now" is "a stunningly informative! imaginative! and engaging account...provocative...and intellectually stimulating" (Glenn C. Altschuler! "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette").

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Ian Morris

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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.