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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3452 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 29, 2023

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Not-so-small scale question but this is probably the only place I can get an informed answer on this not constrained by political correctness: what’s your overarching theory of why Western Europe and its descendants are the world’s most influential civilization of the past few centuries?

In history most academics still see be defining work on this as Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel.

Guns, Germs and Steel is actually pretty poorly regarded in academia, although it has had a significant influence on popular understanding.

From what I recall of my undergrad days, two main books on the topic were 'The Great Divergence' by Kenneth Pomeranz and 'The European Miracle' by E L James.

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