I was surprised that no one else had made a comment before to this work. Now that I have read it, I recognize that, although the subject is very interesting, because of the author's style, the book, without being dry, is often somehow flat, not engaging: certainly it will not become a best-seller. So my rate is between 5 (content) and 3 (pleasure, sometimes falling to 2).



Anyhow, on the vexing question of why Western countries have dominated the world during the last few centuries [the very way the question is posed is controversial!], I would suggest reading the following books: 1) "Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium" by Ronald Findlay and Kevin H. O'Rourke; 2)"The Great Divergence", by Kennetz Pomeranz; 3 - 4): "The world economy. A millennial perspective" (2001) plus "The world economy: Historical Statistics" (2003) by Angus Maddison (a combined edition of these two volumes appeared on December 2007); 5) "Why Europe Was First: Social Change and Economic Growth in Europe and East Asia, 1500-2050" by Erik Ringmar; and 6) "The Mystery of Capital Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else" by Hernando de Soto.