The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Environmental Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century (World Social Change) Paperback – 5 April 2015

the book was in perfect condition

This is a superb book about world history, but it doesn't read like a history book. It has 2 primary arguments: 1. Contrary to popular opinion, "the West" (Europe and the United States) didn't dominate world history until about the 1850's. In contrast, "common knowledge" casts Europe, especially Spain, England, and Portugal, (and later the United States) as hegemonic since at least the time of Columbus' voyages around 1500. Mr. Marks' argument is both convincing and approachable because he provides a wide variety of metrics to demonstrate the East's (China, India and other Asian empires) superiority in areas such as technology, sophistication of trading networks, population, standards of living, and even sophistication of unwritten international contracts.2. Second, Mr. Marks argues for magnifying the role of environment in world history. As with the the East/West thesis above, his argument is coherent and fact-based. From the initial point of departure (First Americans in the New World including Mesoamericans such as the Incas and Aztecs suffered up to 90% population loss due to diseases brought by the Europeans), and continuing forward (arguing that the production of synthetic nitrogen was among the most important events in human history, fueling the growth of Europe and the United States and making possible their rise over India and China, and that industrialization came first to England's in large part thanks to luckily being close to easily accessible sources of coal), luck and the environment helped accelerate the "rise of the West" more than many people think.Given the recent rise of China as the world's premier economic superpower and the worlds' manufacturing center, a resurgent 4 Asian Tigers of the Southeast, and the possibility of India rising anew, the book may leave American readers wondering if we happen to be living at the end of a Western Golden Age, lasting from about 1850-1970, where the West happened to be dominant. This book is enlightening, interesting, and doesn't read like a "boring world history book." Five Stars.

all good. The product corresponds to its description. The only criticism is that it took too long to receive it.

I am using this book to teach World History to my 11th grade daughter. It probably is a college level history book based on previous knowledge. However, with proper preparation, lecture and learning aids, this book is eminently readable for an advanced high schooler. Taking an environmental point of view is a revelation and immediately positions the reader in the new millennium in how to view the events of the past two hundred years, particularly the 20th century which can be seen as basically the two world wars, the great depression, and the cold war. Enter the Anthropocene period and suddenly events take on a completely different meaning, particularly when the author traces the environmental influences of plantation farming and the little Ice Age in the 17th century. Here is a book for the present generation! Beware, the older generation better read it as well. Though the text is thick with incident, the writing connects in one long flow on connectivity. Only two hundred pages! We will use the 1000 page high school world history book as reference since it has no point of view except listing a succession of empires and the rise of nation states. Kudos to Professor Marks.

I am a History Major at California State University, Long Beach and this is my favorite history book. I love the different perspectives that Marks provides readers throughout the book, specifically the environmentalist perspective which is often forgotten or left out of most classes. His writing is also easy to understand. He writes in plain English, which is nice when you have been reading authors like Stearns or Bentley, who write with a more 'academic' style to their writings. It was also an extremely interesting read! I have learned a lot from this book and actually retained the info, so I recommend it. For the first time ever, I am glad that my teacher made this book an assigned reading. This book is rad!