In this work, Daniel Headrick traces the evolution of Western technologies and sheds light on the environmental and social factors that have brought victory in some cases and unforeseen defeat in others.

The discovery of the oceans, to 1779 -- Eastern ocean empires, 1497-1700 -- Horses, diseases, and the conquest of the Americas, 1492-1849 -- The limits of the old imperialism: Africa and Asia to 1859 -- Steamboat imperialism, 1807-1898 -- Health, medicine, and the new imperialism, 1830-1914 -- Weapons and colonial wars, 1830-1914 -- The age of air control, 1911-1936 -- The decline of air control, 1946-2007.