EBOOK
Why Did Europe Conquer the World?
Philip T. HoffmanSeries: Princeton Economic History of the Western World3.5
(2)
About
"One of Bloomberg Businessweek's Best Books of 2015, chosen by Barry Eichengreen" Philip T. Hoffman is professor of business economics and professor of history at the California Institute of Technology.
The startling economic and political answers behind Europe's historical dominance
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. "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." "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)." "In a brilliant analysis, Hoffman demonstrates the dynamic interaction between the financing of the war, the innovation in warfare technology, and the political institutions, which sparked the race toward colonization and prepared the UK for the Industrial Revolution. [An] ambitious study."---Lisa Kaaki, Arab News "An intriguing and compelling contribution to the riveting debate on the causes of European hegemony in the world over the last five hundred years."---Seneer Aktürk, Insight Turkey "Hoffman makes an exceptionally stimulating intervention in the long-running debate on the 'great divergence' . . . . Thought-provoking, deeply informed and marvellously readable, [this] is a major contribution to the still pioneering field of comparative global history."---John Darwin, English Historical Review "Phillip Hoffman's book ans
The startling economic and political answers behind Europe's historical dominance
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. "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." "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)." "In a brilliant analysis, Hoffman demonstrates the dynamic interaction between the financing of the war, the innovation in warfare technology, and the political institutions, which sparked the race toward colonization and prepared the UK for the Industrial Revolution. [An] ambitious study."---Lisa Kaaki, Arab News "An intriguing and compelling contribution to the riveting debate on the causes of European hegemony in the world over the last five hundred years."---Seneer Aktürk, Insight Turkey "Hoffman makes an exceptionally stimulating intervention in the long-running debate on the 'great divergence' . . . . Thought-provoking, deeply informed and marvellously readable, [this] is a major contribution to the still pioneering field of comparative global history."---John Darwin, English Historical Review "Phillip Hoffman's book ans