A review by skitch41
Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson

4.0

Niall Ferguson is one of the best popular historians today, certainly one of the most ubiquitous. And for good reason. His writing is crisp, well researched, and illuminating and appeals to both the hardcore history buff as well as to the uninitiated. However as good as he is, he has a strong tendency to wander off topic. This book is a showcase of the best and worst tendencies of Mr. Ferguson's work. Starting roughly in the 1500s, Mr. Ferguson charts the rise of Western Civilization through six different innovations, or "killer apps," that were unique to the West's success. Like his other works, [bc:Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power|852516|Empire The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power|Niall Ferguson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347945894s/852516.jpg|838020][b:Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power|852516|Empire The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power|Niall Ferguson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347945894s/852516.jpg|838020] and [bc:Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire|173744|Colossus The Rise and Fall of the American Empire|Niall Ferguson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1309282820s/173744.jpg|539682][b:Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire|173744|Colossus The Rise and Fall of the American Empire|Niall Ferguson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1309282820s/173744.jpg|539682], Ferguson tries to combine two different narrative structures: a topical structure, where each chapter corresponds to one of those six apps, and a chronological structure, where the narrative moves sequentially through history. In the first three chapters (Competition, Science, and Property) this works beautifully as the development of these three apps corresponds to the period in history. This is when Mr. Ferguson is at his best. But things break down dramatically starting in the second half of the book. In chapter 4, which deals with medicine, he abandons the overarching theme of what caused the West's rise to showcase some of the West's atrocities (eugenics and experiments on Africans during the 19th century colonial era). He's already charted the moral and economic decline of the West in [bc:The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West|8907|The War of the World Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West|Niall Ferguson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1165766703s/8907.jpg|1263465][b:The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West|8907|The War of the World Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West|Niall Ferguson|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1165766703s/8907.jpg|1263465] as well as some of his other works, so chapter 4 was rather repetitive for anyone who has read his other works. Chapter 5 on Consumption starts to get back on track, but not wholly back on course. Chapter 6 is where he gets back fully on course, which is absolutely fascinating, but he does seem to take a lot from Max Weber's work on the "Protestant Work Ethic." And his conclusion on the rise of China and the relative decline of the West is worthy of consideration. In summation, Mr. Ferguson has written another fascinating and pertinent work, but Mr. Ferguson's bad habits hold this one back.