Daunt Books

This provocative history of the Western world, from the "miserable", plague-ravaged 15th century to the present day, considers what it was about the civilisation of the West that enabled it to trump the opulent empires of the Orient. According to Ferguson, the West developed a number of "killer applications" that the rest of the world lacked: democracy, medicine, science, competition and a protestant work ethic. Whether or not you dispute his daring claims, Ferguson's zeal is compelling and his whistle-stop tour of civilisation is extraordinary.

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