Civilization: The West and the Rest

From the bestselling author of The Ascent of Money and The Square and the Tower

Western civilization’s rise to global dominance is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five centuries.

How did the West overtake its Eastern rivals? And has the zenith of Western power now passed? Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson argues that beginning in the fifteenth century, the West developed six powerful new concepts, or “killer applications”—competition, science, the rule of law, modern medicine, consumerism, and the work ethic—that the Rest lacked, allowing it to surge past all other competitors.

Yet now, Ferguson shows how the Rest have downloaded the killer apps the West once monopolized, while the West has literally lost faith in itself. Chronicling the rise and fall of empires alongside clashes (and fusions) of civilizations, Civilization: The West and the Rest recasts world history with force and wit. Boldly argued and teeming with memorable characters, this is Ferguson at his very best.

• The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
• Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power
• The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
• The Great Degeneration: How Institutions Decay and Economies Die
• Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire
• The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook
• Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World
• The House of Rothschild
• Is This the End of the Liberal International Order?: The Munk Debates
• The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West