Jonathan Daly is Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His publications include Autocracy under Siege (1998), The Watchful State (2004), and The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization (2014).

• Introduction  1. The Miracle of the West  2. World History  3. Imperialism and Exploitation  4. The Greatness of Asia  5. Why not China?  Conclusion

'In this invaluable primer, Jonathan Daly brings together the most influential arguments from the last half century of anglophone scholarship on the perennial question: what led to the rise of the West? Students will get reliable summaries of the diverse views of more than a dozen prominent historians (and historical sociologists) - and in prose often more readable than the original texts.'Professor John McNeill, Georgetown University, USA

Jonathan Daly is Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His publications include Autocracy under Siege (1998), The Watchful State (2004), and The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization (2014).

• Introduction  1. The Miracle of the West  2. World History  3. Imperialism and Exploitation  4. The Greatness of Asia  5. Why not China?  Conclusion

'In this invaluable primer, Jonathan Daly brings together the most influential arguments from the last half century of anglophone scholarship on the perennial question: what led to the rise of the West? Students will get reliable summaries of the diverse views of more than a dozen prominent historians (and historical sociologists) - and in prose often more readable than the original texts.'Professor John McNeill, Georgetown University, USA

Jonathan Daly is Professor of History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His publications include Autocracy under Siege (1998), The Watchful State (2004), and The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization (2014).

• Introduction  1. The Miracle of the West  2. World History  3. Imperialism and Exploitation  4. The Greatness of Asia  5. Why not China?  Conclusion

'In this invaluable primer, Jonathan Daly brings together the most influential arguments from the last half century of anglophone scholarship on the perennial question: what led to the rise of the West? Students will get reliable summaries of the diverse views of more than a dozen prominent historians (and historical sociologists) - and in prose often more readable than the original texts.'Professor John McNeill, Georgetown University, USA