Read by Antony Ferguson

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 20th century
secured its global supremacy.

Now, at the beginning of the 21st 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 200 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
50,000 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.

Download File Size:942.71 MB

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