Civilization

The West and the Rest

By: Niall Ferguson

Narrated by: Niall Ferguson

The rise to global predominance of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five hundred years. All over the world, an astonishing proportion of people now work for Western-style companies, study at Western-style universities, vote for Western-style governments, take Western medicines, wear Western clothes, and even work Western hours. Yet six hundred years ago the petty kingdoms of Western Europe seemed unlikely to achieve much more than perpetual internecine warfare. It was Ming China or Ottoman Turkey that had the look of world civilizations. How did the West overtake its Eastern rivals? And has the zenith of Western power now passed?

In Civilization: The West and the Rest, bestselling author Niall Ferguson argues that, beginning in the fifteenth century, the West developed six powerful new concepts that the Rest lacked: competition, science, the rule of law, consumerism, modern medicine, and the work ethic.

©2011 Niall Ferguson (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Thought-provoking and possibly controversial." ( Library Journal)

Niall Ferguson's Most Enjoyable Book

If you could sum up Civilization in three words, what would they be?

Revised my thinking

What does Niall Ferguson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Having heard him live, that same charisma he projects comes through the audio.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not necessarily. But I did listen to the book more than once.

Any additional comments?

I have always found Niall Ferguson, in his books and lectures, to be insightful and thought-provoking. 'Civilization' may be the best example of this to date. Here is one example of a perspective that I found very instructive, Ferguson includes in his list of explanatory variables for the acceleration of civilization in the West the role of Protestant churches. But he goes beyond the obvious, the Protestant work ethic, to explain how church communities and the mutual trustworthiness they engendered enabled smaller merchants early access to credit and so develop early forms of supply chains in the fledgling free-markets of the colonial US (and Northern Europe). He also differentiates between monopolistic and ‘free market’ religions. The former refers to the state religions common in Europe, the latter to the open market for religion in the US. And clearly, churches and church-going have flourished in the US where free-market competition compelled churches to adapt to the changing needs of their congregations. Without that competitive motive, churches in Europe have stagnated or declined.Agree with Ferguson or not, this is a highly informative and enjoyable listen. And I must add, the voices used for quotes that several reviewers complained about I found neither distracting nor offensive. Niall’s reading of the text was articulated very clearly and sufficiently animated, enhanced all the more by that Scottish accent that I have come to enjoy.

Fabulous explanation of why the West won

First, I must say that I love the way Niall Ferguson reads this book. On top of that, he makes an excellent argument for why the Western Civilization predominates. Just as scary is his contention that our "king of the hill" status is sliding away. I learned more about world history in the 11 hours than listening to almost any other book I heard. When he describes Western Europe in the 14th century, it is mind boggling that they took over the world. His contention that turning inward and restricting the rest of the world influence is the key to the fall of a great civilization. It is particularly relevant to our times in the US. Our xenophobia is literally setting us up for a fall. My suggestion for interested readers is to listening to the book, "Debt:a history". After these two books, any intelligent person will have a firm understanding of where we've come from and where we're heading as a people. It's hard to not buy into the belief that homo sapiens are essentially war mongers. When watching the movie, "Chronicles of Riddick," it is hard not to think the US is not turning into Necromongers.

Compelling - with obvious Bias

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. Good Material ... but don't take it too seriously. Ferguson ignores Indian civilization altogether and thus makes some obvious mistakes (e.g. Atheism is a western construct). There's also a bias here towards Christianity and the repreated "The West and the Rest" tagline can be offensive. And he really didn't need to try to appear 'tech-savvy' with terms like Killer Apps. That said, its a good book and I'd recommend it to all with the caveat that it shouldn't be taken as gospel.

Would you be willing to try another book from Niall Ferguson? Why or why not?

I already have! He is a good writer - some biases not withstanding.

Which character – as performed by Niall Ferguson – was your favorite?

NA

interesting if a bit disjointed

If you could sum up Civilization in three words, what would they be?

Overal interesting content, learned quite a bit, and good narration thought some of the accents Niall tries are pretty hilarious.

Hail Britannia - If You're a Brit

This is my first read of a book by Niall. He certainty has a wide knowledge of history and other social sciences as evidenced by the countless anecdotes and references to historical events from all over the world. His research and analysis is truly insightful and most of it could be seen as supporting his thesis of why the West has dominated the world, although he strays quite a bit from his 6 principles of the west's success and flow of arguments could be better assembled.

I am far from knowledgeable on the history of the world, but find the subject fascinating. Hence my reservations about the thesis is the viewpoint from Niall's apparent British background. Niall portrays an overt dedication, infatuation and awe for the success of the British society (i.e civlization) and liberal criticism of others. He seems almost like a cheerleader for the Empire and raises my doubts on his objectiveness of his presentation (British slavery was bad but others did it too). It would interesting to read a counter point to his interpretation how the western world evolved to its predominance.

As noted by others, he erred in bringing in the annoying the 'other' voices who try to speak english with various accents. This occurs frequently and actually detracts from the narrative rather than helping it.

Being a native of a country with a British tradition, I find myself lucky to have benefited from the British influence of the country and I did enjoy reading Niall's arguments and trip through history. Despite my criticism, it is a well researched book.

Wish they taught this in my Western Civ class...

Where does Civilization rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best !

What did you like best about this story?

A very entertaining and informative presentation on the evolution of Western Civilization, contrasted with what were the previous leading Asian (Chinese) and middle-eastern civilizations. A good compliment to "Guns, germs, and steel".

Which character – as performed by Niall Ferguson – was your favorite?

N/A

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Not suitable for film...

Any additional comments?

Well worth listening to!

Insightful book

Very interesting to read the author’s appraisal of the “killer apps” that help the West be above the rest. For those who read “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” the author’s appraisal provides an informed counter argument of how the West became what is today. Strongly recommend.

Incredible Read

Incredible book that provides and in depth analysis on the ascendancy of western civilization through the use of 6 "Killer Apps".

This book is more relevant today now more than ever, where traditional understanding and education of western civilization is at an all time low among the general public.

Important Message

This audio delivers a powerful message. The portions narrated by the author were enjoyable
, although it would have been even better with a professional narration But It is greatly hindered by the frequent use of horrible narrators with preposterous accents. At points, it was quite literally unlistenable

Grand sweep; strong themes

I found Ferguson‘s synoptic view of Western civilization in comparison with others to be powerful and bracing.  the addition of other weirdly accented voices to read quotes from people of different nationalities did not work at all for me, but the content was still excellent.