The Rise Of The West


The Rise Of The West: A History Of The Human Community is a book belonging to the historical and biographical genre and written by William Hardy McNeill, a Canadian who attended the University Of Chicago. After the first edition of the book was published it won an award and also got noted as one of the best nonfiction books of the twentieth century by the Modern Library.

This book entails views held and actions taken by earlier civilizations and how they interacted with one another. Furthermore, the book is sectioned into three pieces starting with the section titled: The Era Of Middle Eastern Dominance To 500 B.C., continuing with: Eurasian Cultural Balance 500 B.C. - 1500 A.D. General Introduction., and ending with: The Era Of Western Dominance, 1500 A.D. To The Present, General Introduction.

In Section one Mr. McNeill explains the emergence of civilizations in Mesopotamia then stresses on the Middle East growing economic stability whilst their population grew. He then proceeded to discuss the various systems the Chinese and the Indians practiced to maintain order in their countries as well as places like Greece. Section two has examples of the rise of Eurasian civilization and the acceptance of revised Hellenism. He also wrote that world history has specific engines that suit the different eras of the world. The section also provided examples on how the lesser civilizations reacted to the meshing of ideas and skills among the larger, intricately designed civilizations. Section three depicts the steps that caused the early European settlers in America to work towards independence. It also spoke of the exploits the Europeans made in Africa, far East and parts of Asia. The rise of industrialization in the 1900’s and how the acquisition of more territory transpired.

In this book Mr. McNeill opposes the Spengler-Toynbee view of what factors to accredit to the world being the way it is now. He says that the dominant civilizations of the world did influence each other from the very evolution of agricultural techniques to the expeditions of conquest they also embarked upon in hopes of finding more resources and slaves. Because he was able to provide historical evidence and accepted conclusions on certain past happenings, the book shot to fame and is now referenced for alternative yet comparable explanations of the beginning of civilization.

The Rise Of The West is definitely a must read for history students and other seekers of knowledge.

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