Origin of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative

Author: Robert B. Max (USA)
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Most world history books are conceived and written by European historians or those influenced by them, which has led to a phenomenon where world history is often centered around stories about Europe. However, over the past two decades, the author's research on Chinese history has made him question the Eurocentric narrative of the origins of the modern world. By studying the works of historians who focus on China, he has written a new, China-centered modern world history—this book. This book argues that from 1400 to 1800, the core region of the most developed world economy was in Asia, particularly China and India, rather than Europe. The characteristics of the modern world include industry, nation-states, interstate wars, the widening and ever-increasing gap between the world's wealthiest and poorest regions, and the rejection of the "old ecological regime." To fundamentally explain how European nations and the United States took the path of modernization, it is more appropriate to follow the following line of thought: convenient coal reserves allowed Britain to industrialize first, then apply the achievements of early industrialization to weapon development, and ultimately use these new weapons against Asians and Africans.