"In vivid detail, Hoffman sheds light on the two millennia of economic, political, and historical changes that set European states on a distinctive path of development and military rivalry. Compared to their counterparts in China, Japan, South Asia, and the Middle East, European leaders--whether chiefs, lords, kings, emperors, or prime ministers--had radically different incentives, which drove them to make war. These incentives, which Hoffman explores using an economic model of political costs and financial resources, resulted in astonishingly rapid growth in Europe's military sector from the Middle Ages on, and produced an insurmountable lead in gunpowder technology. The consequences determined which states established colonial empires or ran the slave trade, and even which economies were the first to industrialize."--Publisher's Web site.

Introduction -- How the Tournament in Early Modern Europe Made Conquest Possible -- Why the Rest of Eurasia Fell Behind -- Ultimate Causes : Explaining the Difference between Western Europe and the Rest of Eurasia -- From the Gunpowder Technology to Private Expeditions -- Technological Change and Armed Peace in Nineteenth-Century Europe -- Conclusion : The Price of Conquest -- Appendix A : Model of War and Technical Change via Learning by Doing -- Appendix B : Using Prices to Measure Productivity Growth in the Military Sector -- Appendix C : Model of Political Learning -- Appendix D : Data for Tables 4.1 and 4.2 -- Appendix E : Model of Armed Peace and Technical Change via Research.