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Author: Ian Morris Publisher: McClelland & Stewart ISBN: 1551995816 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 767
Book Description
Why does the West rule? In this magnum opus, eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question, drawing on 50,000 years of history, archeology, and the methods of social science, to make sense of when, how, and why the paths of development differed in the East and West — and what this portends for the 21st century. There are two broad schools of thought on why the West rules. Proponents of "Long-Term Lock-In" theories such as Jared Diamond suggest that from time immemorial, some critical factor — geography, climate, or culture perhaps — made East and West unalterably different, and determined that the industrial revolution would happen in the West and push it further ahead of the East. But the East led the West between 500 and 1600, so this development can't have been inevitable; and so proponents of "Short-Term Accident" theories argue that Western rule was a temporary aberration that is now coming to an end, with Japan, China, and India resuming their rightful places on the world stage. However, as the West led for 9,000 of the previous 10,000 years, it wasn't just a temporary aberration. So, if we want to know why the West rules, we need a whole new theory. Ian Morris, boldly entering the turf of Jared Diamond and Niall Ferguson, provides the broader approach that is necessary, combining the textual historian's focus on context, the anthropological archaeologist's awareness of the deep past, and the social scientist's comparative methods to make sense of the past, present, and future — in a way no one has ever done before.
Author: Ian Morris Publisher: McClelland & Stewart ISBN: 1551995816 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 767
Book Description
Why does the West rule? In this magnum opus, eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question, drawing on 50,000 years of history, archeology, and the methods of social science, to make sense of when, how, and why the paths of development differed in the East and West — and what this portends for the 21st century. There are two broad schools of thought on why the West rules. Proponents of "Long-Term Lock-In" theories such as Jared Diamond suggest that from time immemorial, some critical factor — geography, climate, or culture perhaps — made East and West unalterably different, and determined that the industrial revolution would happen in the West and push it further ahead of the East. But the East led the West between 500 and 1600, so this development can't have been inevitable; and so proponents of "Short-Term Accident" theories argue that Western rule was a temporary aberration that is now coming to an end, with Japan, China, and India resuming their rightful places on the world stage. However, as the West led for 9,000 of the previous 10,000 years, it wasn't just a temporary aberration. So, if we want to know why the West rules, we need a whole new theory. Ian Morris, boldly entering the turf of Jared Diamond and Niall Ferguson, provides the broader approach that is necessary, combining the textual historian's focus on context, the anthropological archaeologist's awareness of the deep past, and the social scientist's comparative methods to make sense of the past, present, and future — in a way no one has ever done before.
Author: Robert D. Kaplan Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks ISBN: 0812982223 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 450
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “ambitious and challenging” (The New York Review of Books) work, the bestselling author of Monsoon and Balkan Ghosts offers a revelatory prism through which to view global upheavals and to understand what lies ahead for continents and countries around the world. In The Revenge of Geography, Robert D. Kaplan builds on the insights, discoveries, and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the near and distant past to look back at critical pivots in history and then to look forward at the evolving global scene. Kaplan traces the history of the world’s hot spots by examining their climates, topographies, and proximities to other embattled lands. The Russian steppe’s pitiless climate and limited vegetation bred hard and cruel men bent on destruction, for example, while Nazi geopoliticians distorted geopolitics entirely, calculating that space on the globe used by the British Empire and the Soviet Union could be swallowed by a greater German homeland. Kaplan then applies the lessons learned to the present crises in Europe, Russia, China, the Indian subcontinent, Turkey, Iran, and the Arab Middle East. The result is a holistic interpretation of the next cycle of conflict throughout Eurasia. Remarkably, the future can be understood in the context of temperature, land allotment, and other physical certainties: China, able to feed only 23 percent of its people from land that is only 7 percent arable, has sought energy, minerals, and metals from such brutal regimes as Burma, Iran, and Zimbabwe, putting it in moral conflict with the United States. Afghanistan’s porous borders will keep it the principal invasion route into India, and a vital rear base for Pakistan, India’s main enemy. Iran will exploit the advantage of being the only country that straddles both energy-producing areas of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. Finally, Kaplan posits that the United States might rue engaging in far-flung conflicts with Iraq and Afghanistan rather than tending to its direct neighbor Mexico, which is on the verge of becoming a semifailed state due to drug cartel carnage. A brilliant rebuttal to thinkers who suggest that globalism will trump geography, this indispensable work shows how timeless truths and natural facts can help prevent this century’s looming cataclysms.
Author: William Gordon East Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 9780393004199 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 224
Book Description
In this book, Professor East discusses the vital relationship between history and geographical conditions. Drawing examples from ancient times up to the present, he demonstrates that a study of history must include consideration of the physical conditions under which an event occurs, and that "the particular characteristics of this setting serve not only to localise but also to influence part at least of the action." Topographical position, climate, distribution of water and minerals, the placement of routes and towns, and ease or difficulty of movement between districts and countries are among the factors which the historian must take into account. Book jacket.
Author: Henry L. Hunker Publisher: Ohio State University Press ISBN: 9780814208571 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 240
Book Description
"Personal and anecdotal, the book serves as an informal documentary of the past fifty years, when Columbus grew to become the largest city in Ohio. Famous for his tours of the city, Hunker includes itineraries for two tours - one in 1956, one in 1999 - which he uses to compare the city then and now.".
Author: Ian Muehlenhaus Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA ISBN: Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 501
Book Description
Geography Today provides a thoughtful and thorough introduction to the study of geography—from maps and technology to the study of different cultures, political systems, and economies, and an investigation of plate tectonics and climate systems. Geography Today: An Encyclopedia of Concepts, Issues, and Technology approaches the study of geography by concept, in contrast to most other works, which are organized by world region. Geography curriculums have been moving away from teaching the topic on a regional basis and toward teaching it through broader concepts. This is modeled by the National Geography Standards, the National Council for Geographic Education's Roadmap for 21st Century Geography Education, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Resource System, and ABC-CLIO's own geography advisory board, comprised of high school geography teachers from across the United States. By introducing geography concepts, Geography Today sets the foundation for readers to understand why certain geographies may be the way they are. It further helps high school geography students to apply concepts to different contexts with 101 geography terms, themes, and concepts for quick-reference research and study.
Author: James Howard Kunstler Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 0671888250 Category : Architecture Languages : en Pages : 308
Book Description
Argues that much of what surrounds Americans is depressing, ugly, and unhealthy; and traces America's evolution from a land of village commons to a man-made landscape that ignores nature and human needs.
Author: Jared Diamond Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 0393069222 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 532
Book Description
"Fascinating.... Lays a foundation for understanding human history."—Bill Gates In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion --as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war --and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth club of California's Gold Medal.
Author: Ian Morris
Author: Ian Morris
Author: John Barwick
Author: Robert D. Kaplan
Author: William Gordon East
Author: Henry L. Hunker
Author: Daniel Berkowitz
Author: John Michels (Journalist)
Author: Ian Muehlenhaus
Author: James Howard Kunstler
Author: Jared Diamond