Civilization: The West and the Rest [Niall Ferguson]
In some ways, I have very little to say about this book. The main ideas are in the chapter titles of the main 6 chapters of the book: Competition (small European nations in competition with everyone else, instead of larger nations - focused on China - having little to no competition), Science (the scientific revolution was in Europe, not in Asia or Africa and mostly in the same geographical area of Europe, within a 100 miles or so), Property (large focus on property rights for many people, rather than just a few - focus on North and South American colonies - British and Spanish respectively), Medicine (the medical breakthroughs in the 19th and 20th centuries happened in North America and Western Europe), Consumption (cheaper goods - cloth was first, supply and demand) Work (higher savings rates, people willing to work to get money for goods).
I should have taken notes on this book and I'm suprised I didn't, since I am taking notes on Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World which is an audio book. So, it's a crappy review :(
