Why Did Europe Conquer the World?
Published on 24. January 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-691-17584-3 (ISBN)
Description
Between 1492 and 1914, Europeans conquered 84 percent of the globe. But why did Europe establish global dominance, when for centuries the Chinese, Japanese, Ottomans, and South Asians were far more advanced? In Why Did Europe Conquer the World?, Philip Hoffman demonstrates that conventional explanations--such as geography, epidemic disease, and the Industrial Revolution--fail to provide answers. Arguing instead for the pivotal role of economic and political history, Hoffman shows that if certain variables had been different, Europe would have been eclipsed, and another power could have become master of the world. Hoffman sheds light on the two millennia of economic, political, and historical changes that set European states on a distinctive path of development, military rivalry, and war. This resulted in astonishingly rapid growth in Europe's military sector, and produced an insurmountable lead in gunpowder technology. The consequences determined which states established colonial empires or ran the slave trade, and even which economies were the first to industrialize. Debunking traditional arguments, Why Did Europe Conquer the World? reveals the startling reasons behind Europe's historic global supremacy.
Reviews / Votes
One of Bloomberg Businessweek's Best Books of 2015, chosen by Barry Eichengreen "Brilliant."--Edward Rothstein, Wall Street Journal "[Why Did Europe Conquer the World?] is a very interesting addition to the flourishing history of the world genre."--Diane Coyle, Enlightened Economist "History and counterfactuals blend into a fluent thesis, underpinned by diverting tables of data."--Martin Vander Weyer, Daily Telegraph "Fascinating."--G. John Ikenberry, Foreign Affairs "A confident and sure-footed book."--Robert Fulford, National Post "Big-picture economic history at its best. Hoffman's answer: chronic military conflict that gave European leaders incentives to harness widely known gunpowder technologies more effectively than leaders in other parts of the world. Also a good reminder of what economic history brings to today's economic and political table."--Barry Eichengreen, Bloomberg Businessweek "A hugely ambitious book and one that no scholar analyzing transitions in global history can overlook. It is a daunting task to attempt such an endeavor, let alone succeed as Hoffman has. [How Did Europe Conquer the World?] will change interpretations of European warfare, the financing of conflicts, transitions in other regions of the world, the causes of the Industrial Revolution, and the Great Divergence--topics that are at the forefront of history, economics, and political science today... Impressive and persuasive... [T]his book is a classic of economic history, which should be required reading."--Jari Eloranta, EH.net "Impressive."--Jan De Vries, American Historical Review "A powerful argument that resonates strongly with recent work in international political economy (Herman Schwartz) and political science (Ned Lebow)."--SurvivalMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
6 Maps
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 154 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
411 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-17584-3 (9780691175843)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Philip T. Hoffman
Why Did Europe Conquer the World?
E-Book
07/2015
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
€79.95
Available for download
Person
Philip T. Hoffman is professor of business economics and professor of history at the California Institute of Technology.
Content
Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 How the Tournament in Early Modern Europe Made Conquest Possible 19 Chapter 3 Why the Rest of Eurasia Fell Behind 67 Chapter 4 Ultimate Causes: Explaining the Difference between Western Europe and the Rest of Eurasia 104 Chapter 5 From the Gunpowder Technology to Private Expeditions 154 Chapter 6 Technological Change and Armed Peace in Nineteenth-Century Europe 179 Chapter 7 Conclusion: The Price of Conquest 205 Appendix A Model of War and Technical Change via Learning by Doing 215 Appendix B Using Prices to Measure Productivity Growth in the Military Sector 228 Appendix C Model of Political Learning 231 Appendix D Data for Tables 4.1 and 4.2 233 Appendix E Model of Armed Peace and Technical Change via Research 234 Acknowledgments 239 Bibliography 241 Index 263