Civilization: Is the West History?

Summary

The West once ruled more than half the world. The religion it exported is still followed by a third of mankind. Above all, the way people live — or aspire to live — is unmistakably an invention of the West.

But are we living through the beginning of the end of the West’s ascendancy? Once so dominant, the economies of the United States and Europe are now facing the real prospect of being overtaken by China within a generation. There is mounting scepticism, too, about the West’s recipe of the free market plus democracy. The Protestant ethic of thrift that once seemed so central to the Western project has all but vanished. And, of course, Western societies are beset by almost millenarian fears of a coming environmental apocalypse.

Yet the study of other civilisations should not lead us to think that there was nothing special about the West. There was — and this remarkable new series sets out to explain what it was.

Niall Ferguson explains how by juxtaposing the West and ‘the Rest’, we can uncover the keys — the six killer applications — of Western ascendancy: the real explanation of how, for roughly five centuries, a clear minority of mankind managed to secure the lion’s share of the Earth’s resources.

Intelligent, entertaining, educational and visually stunning, Civilization will do more for the public understanding of world history than any series since the original BBC programme of the same name by Kenneth Clark.

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7 comments so far...

  1. Peter Dawson

    Thursday 10 May 2012, 8:35am

    The presentation was smug and very unbalanced on many issues. I could only bring myself to watch one episode. Niall Ferguson is too much of an 'I' specialist for my taste.
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    1. Melinda Brack

      Saturday 12 May 2012, 5:58pm

      I agree. However I managed to wade through the whole series. Funny how he managed to miss exposing the most critical app of them all. A LARGE EXPLOITABLE WORKFORCE is central to the success of capitalism or 'the west'. When a country loses that, capitalism always crashes.
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  2. joe someone

    Saturday 7 April 2012, 8:50am

    the historian dude forgot to mention that the british, french, worked together with the americans and everyone to smuggle trillions of opium into china. hence the 'opium wars'. drug dealer terrorists. and the hongkong shanghai bank is the richest bank in the world!
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  3. Matt

    Friday 3 February 2012, 2:30am

    I cannot find this on DVD at any Australian retailer. It was produced by Channel 4, so you won't find it in ABC stores or in BBC sections of JB and the like. A shame, because I'd really like a copy for region 4 (you can import a copy from Britain - region 2 - but it may not work on some dvd players here.
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  4. Sally M

    Saturday 31 December 2011, 8:38am

    I have to agree. I have now seen 3 of the series - must be the second time around - it is very thought provoking and a wonderful analysis of our time. I went looking for the DVD. I expect with a second look I could get even more out of it. It leads without being directive. We need more of this.
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  5. Bruce Kelly

    Thursday 4 August 2011, 9:50am

    Absolutely enthralling. This would definitely join our own library if available on DVD. Well done BBC.
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  6. Leigh Hill

    Wednesday 3 August 2011, 8:36am

    After seeing the first in this series, each episode could easily be viewed a number of times. Will there be a permanent version available, say on DVD or downloadable?
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