The rise to global predominance of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the past five hundred years. All over the world, an astonishing proportion of people now work for Western-style companies, study at Western-style universities, vote for Western-style governments, take Western medicines, wear Western clothes, and even work Western hours. Yet six hundred years ago the petty kingdoms of Western Europe seemed like miserable backwaters, ravaged by incessant war and pestilence, unlikely to achieve much more than perpetual internecine warfare. It was Ming China or Ottoman Turkey that had the look of world civilizations. How did the West overtake its Eastern rivals? And has the zenith of Western power now passed? In "Civilization: the West and the Rest," Niall Ferguson argues that, beginning in the fifteenth century, the West developed six powerful new concepts that the rest lacked: competition, science, the rule of law, consumerism, modern medicine, and the work ethic. These were the "killer applications" that allowed the West to leap ahead of the rest, opening global trade routes, exploiting newly discovered scientific knowledge, evolving a system of representative government, more than doubling life expectancy, unleashing the Industrial Revolution, and hugely increasing human productivity. "Civilization" shows just how fewer than a dozen Western empires came to control more than half of humanity and four fifths of the world economy. Yet now, Ferguson argues, the days of Western predominance are numbered-not because of clashes with rival civilizations, but simply because the rest have now downloaded the six killer apps we once monopolized-while the West has literally lost faith in itself. Chronicling the rise and fall of empires alongside the clashes of civilizations, "Civilization" recasts world history with verve and wit. Boldly argued but also teeming with memorable characters, this is Ferguson at his very best.

Unabridged. Compact discs. This audiobook is encoded in MP3 format and will only play on CD players that are MP3 compatible.

Introduction: Rasselas's question / Competition. Two rivers -- The eunuch and the unicorn -- The spice race -- The mediocre kingdom / Science. The siege -- Micrographia -- Osman and Fritz -- Tanzimat tours -- From Istanbul to Jerusalem / Property. New worlds -- Land of the free -- American revolutions -- The fate of the Gullahs / Medicine. Burke's prophecy -- The juggernaut of war -- Medecins sans frontieres -- The skulls of Shark Island -- Black shame / Consumption. The birth of the consumer society -- Turning Western -- Ragtime to riches -- The jeans genie -- Pyjamas and scarves / Work. Work ethic and word ethic -- Get your kicks -- The Chinese Jerusalem -- Lands of unbelief -- The end of days? / Conclusion: the rivals.