The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization PDF
Preview The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization
The Rise of Western Power ii The Rise of Western Power A Comparative History of Western Civilization Jonathan Daly LONDON • NEW DELHI • NEW YORK • SYDNEY Bloomsbury Academic An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B 3DP NY 10018 UK USA www.bloomsbury.com Bloomsbury is a registered trade mark of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published 2014 © Jonathan Daly, 2014 Jonathan Daly has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-8901-1 PB: 978-1-4411-6131-4 ePDF: 978-1-4411-1851-6 ePub: 978-1-4411-4475-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India For My Sofia: God put you in my life for a reason. vi ConTenTs List of illustrations xii Prologue: Why the West? xiv Definitions xix Questions for reflection xxi 1 Innovation in world civilization 1 Prehistory 2 The ancient Near East 6 The classical world 8 Ancient China 10 Other great civilizations 14 Astonishing human ingenuity 19 A latecomer 24 Questions for reflection 27 2 Medieval transformations 31 Agricultural revolution 32 The rise of feudal society 33 Urban revolution 36 Technological innovations 38 Commercial revolution 41 Construction boom 43 Literary flowering 45 Women’s social status 46 The Divine Comedy and medieval culture 48 Music and art 49 Questions for reflection 51 3 Papal Revolution 55 The early church 55 The Western church 59 Reform builds 63 viii ConTenTs Revolutions in the church 65 Revolutions in learning 68 Revolutions in the law 72 The investiture conflict 74 Spiritual revolutions in the church 76 Political revolutions in Christendom 80 Questions for reflection 83 4 Military revolutions 87 Ancient and early medieval warfare 87 Medieval warfare 91 European arms race 94 Infantry revolution 97 War and the origins of representative government 99 Gunpowder revolution 100 Revolution in the nature and scale of war 104 Questions for reflection 109 5 Discovery of the world 113 Migrations 113 Internal colonization 115 The Crusades 119 World travelers 122 Global traders 124 Seafarers and explorers 127 Conquerors 132 Questions for reflection 140 6 Explosion of the printed word 143 Icon, token, symbol 143 Papyrus, scroll, codex 145 Libraries 146 The printing revolution 149 Publishing boom 152 Questions for reflection 159 7 The Reformation 163 The Renaissance 163 Worldly theologians 165 Voices from below 166 ConTenTs ix Luther 169 Social and political transformations 172 Christendom shattered 175 The foundations of modern rights 181 Questions for reflection 185 8 Scientific revolutions 189 Ancient and medieval roots 190 Methods and approaches 193 Life science 199 Cosmology 202 Demystifying nature: Chemistry and electricity 208 The Enlightenment 210 The dark side of modern science 212 Questions for reflection 214 9 Commercial revolutions 217 Commodity fetishes 219 Agricultural revolution 222 Pooling resources 224 The banking revolution 232 Spreading risk 233 Sharing information 235 Questions for reflection 237 10 Political revolutions 241 Foundations of liberty 241 Early European self-government 247 The English revolutions 252 The American Revolution 259 France and the revolutionary tradition 266 Questions for reflection 272 11 Industrial Revolution 275 Accumulation of resources 276 Perfect conditions 279 Scholarly disputes 282 Chains of innovation 285 Diffusion 291 Questions for reflection 296
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