The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation

Rating:
Summary: Half of a pair of books everyone should read
Review: I did not agree with everything in this book, but I sure learned a lot from reading it.

When I read the introduction, it became clear to me that this book is part of an on-going conversation among historians wrestling with the question of why "the West" has dominated the world stage. In fact, this author refers to David Landes' _The_Wealth_and_Poverty_of_Nations_ in a way that makes it clear that Hobson is responding to Landes. So I put this book aside long enough to read Landes' book first.

As a conversation, these two books have a great deal to offer. Neither is completely balanced, but between them, they cover a great deal of ground, both in terms of historical content and in terms of how the two authors understand the same events. Reading these two books together taught me a great deal, both about history, and about the historian's profession.

I strongly recommend that if you read one of these two books, you read the other. Be warned that if you agree with one, the other will probably infuriate you, but if you can stay the course, you will be both better informed and a bit wiser at the end of it all.

Rating:
Summary: West and East: once more time (for good).
Review: The description on the approach of the book provided by the "Book reviews" is fairly accurate. Therefore, I will only point out that the book is about one of the most con-troversial issues nowadays on long-term and comparative history: why Western countries have dominated the world during the last few centuries (in fact, Hobson objects to the very way the question is posed). Besides, the book is not a difficult reading (content: 5 starts; pleasure of reading: 4 to 3).
Other books I would recommend to read are the following: "The Dynamics of Global Dominance. European Overseas Empires 1415-1980", by David Abernethy; "Pre-industrial societies" by Patricia Crone; "The History of Government" by S.E. Finer; "The world economy. A millennial perspective" by Angus Maddison; "The Phe-nomenon of Religion", by Moojan Momen; "World History. A new perspective" by Clive Ponting; "The Great Divergence", by Kennetz Pomeranz;and Victor Lieber-man's "Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland : Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800-1830".

Rating:
Summary: West and East: once more time (for good).
Review: The description on the approach of the book provided by the "Book reviews" is fairly accurate. Therefore, I will only point out that the book is about one of the most con-troversial issues nowadays on long-term and comparative history: why Western countries have dominated the world during the last few centuries (in fact, Hobson objects to the very way the question is posed). Besides, the book is not a difficult reading (content: 5 starts; pleasure of reading: 4 to 3).
Other books I would recommend to read are the following: "The Dynamics of Global Dominance. European Overseas Empires 1415-1980", by David Abernethy; "Pre-industrial societies" by Patricia Crone; "The History of Government" by S.E. Finer; "The world economy. A millennial perspective" by Angus Maddison; "The Phe-nomenon of Religion", by Moojan Momen; "World History. A new perspective" by Clive Ponting; "The Great Divergence", by Kennetz Pomeranz;and Victor Lieber-man's "Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland : Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800-1830".

Rating:
Summary: simplistic
Review: This book is very disappointing and not up to the usual scholarly standards one associates with Cambridge University Press. The argument is a simplistic polemic (West bad, East good) that does not progress beyond the secondary sources that the author relies on. It cannot be compared to serious works of world history by Mcneill, Wallerstein, etc.