Jerrold Seigel is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of History Emeritus at New York University. His work ranges from intellectual and cultural history to the evolution of society and politics. Previous publications include The Idea of the Self: Thought and Experience in Western Europe Since the Seventeenth Century (2005), and Modernity and Bourgeois Life: Society, Politics and Culture in England, France, and Germany since 1750 (2012), which won the 2014 Laura Shannon Prize.

• 1. Introduction; Part I. Liberty and Liberties: 2. A preoccupation with liberty; 3. From liberties to liberty; 4. Liberties elsewhere; Part II. Autonomy and Teleocracy: 5. Spheres of autonomy: the church, universities, and the bounds of reason; 6. Classical humanism and aesthetics; 7. Science as a sphere of autonomy; 8. Teleocratic sciences; Part III. Openness and Domination: 9. Other peoples, other places; 10. Empire: material expansion, moral contraction, and internal criticism; 11. Courage and weakness: anti-imperialism and its limits in the nineteenth century; Part IV. Transformations: 12. Autonomy and transformation: Britain; 13. Transformation and autonomy: France and Germany; 14. Ready or not? China and India; 15. Conclusion.

'A work of breathtaking scope and erudition, this is macrohistory at its best, an original answer to the classic question of why Europe came to dominate the world. Europe's advantages, Seigel convincingly shows, emerged from no inherent superiority but from the autonomous spaces for innovation that the continent's political and religious disunity opened up.' Edward Berenson, New York University

Jerrold Seigel is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of History Emeritus at New York University. His work ranges from intellectual and cultural history to the evolution of society and politics. Previous publications include The Idea of the Self: Thought and Experience in Western Europe Since the Seventeenth Century (2005), and Modernity and Bourgeois Life: Society, Politics and Culture in England, France, and Germany since 1750 (2012), which won the 2014 Laura Shannon Prize.

• 1. Introduction; Part I. Liberty and Liberties: 2. A preoccupation with liberty; 3. From liberties to liberty; 4. Liberties elsewhere; Part II. Autonomy and Teleocracy: 5. Spheres of autonomy: the church, universities, and the bounds of reason; 6. Classical humanism and aesthetics; 7. Science as a sphere of autonomy; 8. Teleocratic sciences; Part III. Openness and Domination: 9. Other peoples, other places; 10. Empire: material expansion, moral contraction, and internal criticism; 11. Courage and weakness: anti-imperialism and its limits in the nineteenth century; Part IV. Transformations: 12. Autonomy and transformation: Britain; 13. Transformation and autonomy: France and Germany; 14. Ready or not? China and India; 15. Conclusion.

'A work of breathtaking scope and erudition, this is macrohistory at its best, an original answer to the classic question of why Europe came to dominate the world. Europe's advantages, Seigel convincingly shows, emerged from no inherent superiority but from the autonomous spaces for innovation that the continent's political and religious disunity opened up.' Edward Berenson, New York University

Jerrold Seigel is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of History Emeritus at New York University. His work ranges from intellectual and cultural history to the evolution of society and politics. Previous publications include The Idea of the Self: Thought and Experience in Western Europe Since the Seventeenth Century (2005), and Modernity and Bourgeois Life: Society, Politics and Culture in England, France, and Germany since 1750 (2012), which won the 2014 Laura Shannon Prize.

• 1. Introduction; Part I. Liberty and Liberties: 2. A preoccupation with liberty; 3. From liberties to liberty; 4. Liberties elsewhere; Part II. Autonomy and Teleocracy: 5. Spheres of autonomy: the church, universities, and the bounds of reason; 6. Classical humanism and aesthetics; 7. Science as a sphere of autonomy; 8. Teleocratic sciences; Part III. Openness and Domination: 9. Other peoples, other places; 10. Empire: material expansion, moral contraction, and internal criticism; 11. Courage and weakness: anti-imperialism and its limits in the nineteenth century; Part IV. Transformations: 12. Autonomy and transformation: Britain; 13. Transformation and autonomy: France and Germany; 14. Ready or not? China and India; 15. Conclusion.

'A work of breathtaking scope and erudition, this is macrohistory at its best, an original answer to the classic question of why Europe came to dominate the world. Europe's advantages, Seigel convincingly shows, emerged from no inherent superiority but from the autonomous spaces for innovation that the continent's political and religious disunity opened up.' Edward Berenson, New York University