How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity

In the first half of the fifteenth century, decades before Columbus set sail, the great Chinese admiral Zheng He commanded a fleet that seven times sailed across the Indian Ocean and reached the shores of East Africa. This talented admiral returned from each voyage—(some historians believe he died on the last one)—with rare goods and exotic animals. In spite of this impressive feat of navigation, after Zhen He’s death the Chinese emperor decreed an end to the construction of oceangoing vessels. He then had Zehng He’s fleet dragged ashore and left to rot, and even ordered the surviving animals in the imperial zoo killed. The emperor did these things, as Rodney Stark tells us in How The West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity (ISBN 161017085-7, $27.95) because of “Confucian opposition to change on grounds that the past was greatly superior.” Many historians have explored the reasons for the rise to power and dominance of the West, and in regard to theories of this momentous circumstance Stark gives readers little new information. He follows the road blazed by other historians, citing such causes and influences as the Greek philosophers, Judaism and Christianity, the idea of progress (certainly lacking in Zheng He’s China), the use of rationality and scientific exploration as ways of explaining the world. What sets How The West Won apart from similar histories, and what makes it a sheer delight to read, are Stark’s wit, his elegant writing, and most especially, his reinterpretation of various historical events. In the case of the Roman Empire, for example, Stark explains that the empire’s fall was actually a beneficial rather than a negative event. Through many examples he demonstrates that the Romans were something like the Chinese, uninterested in developing their technology, and that the fall of Rome did not give rise to a barbarian Europe, but rather to Europe itself. As Stark explains, until that point in time all of Europe north of Italy had looked to Rome and the Mediterranean for trade and the standards of “civilization.” With Rome’s fall, the emphasis on such things moved northward. Nearly every chapter of How The West Won breaks some widely held opinion. Stark attacks the old thesis that Protestantism created capitalism, demonstrating that capitalism and banking were already well developed in such places as the city-states of Northern Italy. He investigates the spread of Protestantism, showing its links to certain German universities and to those towns that had charters and liberties allowing for change. He reveals that many of the lesser educated citizens in Germany, particularly the peasants, cared little about religion or faith, a circumstance lamented by Martin Luther himself. “The most fundamental key to the rise of Western civilization,” Stark writes, “has been the dedication of so many of its most brilliant minds to the pursuit of knowledge.” This sentence appears at the beginning of a chapter on the medieval scholastics, those scholars and logicians who have been denigrated ever since the Enlightenment. Stark defends these academics, reminding us that they practiced a form of highly rational thinking and that this way of thinking, of perceiving the world, carried great weight in exploring that world. Men like William of Ockham, Roger Bacon, and Nicole Oresme turned the tools of their training into what we now call the “scientific method.” A second key to Western success addressed by Stark is the development of political liberty. We are so accustomed to our various rights and liberties, particularly here in America, that we often take them for granted and wonder why democracy and its attendant institutions can’t be exported abroad as easily as Cokes, motion pictures, and jeans. Stark returns to this unique aspect of Western culture throughout the book, perhaps most vividly by contrasting Imperial Spain in its golden age with that tiny newcomer to the world stage, England. As Spain slid into obscurity, hedged about by too many laws and damaged by its system of kings and wealthy landowners, liberty-loving England entered an industrial revolution and created an empire. Though a university professor—he is Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor University—Stark writes clear, crisp prose with a general audience clearly in mind. Here, for example, is a typical passage about our misconceptions regarding the Romans and the barbarians who conquered them: “As for the average person’s standard of living, it is true that the state no longer subsidized food or made daily free distributions of bread, olive oil, and wine. But studies based on isotopic analysis of skeletons have found that people in the so-called Dark Ages ate very well, getting lots of mean, and as a result they grew larger than people had during the days of the empire.” One caveat: despite the provocative title, How The West Won is not the work of a pundit. Stark backs up his various claims and historical corrections with his own research and that of many others. The endnotes, bibliography, and index take up nearly a quarter of the book. If you are looking for lively, erudite history, you’ll find How The West Won a splendid companion.

“Rather than a great tragedy, the fall of Rome was the single most beneficial event in the rise of Western civilization. The many stultifying centuries of Roman rule saw only two significant instances of progress: the invention of concrete and the rise of Christianity, the latter taking place despite Roman attempts to prevent it.’’What! Romans in the darkness and christians brought the light?Wow! Also . . .“The “Dark Ages” never happened—that was an era of remarkable progress and innovation that included the invention of capitalism.’’Man-o-man.“The crusaders did not march east in pursuit of land and loot. They went deeply into debt to finance their participation in what they regarded as a religious mission. Most thought it unlikely that they would live to return (and most didn’t).’’Right.“Although still ignored by most historians, dramatic changes in climate played a major role in the rise of the West—a period of unusually warm weather (from about 800 to about 1250) was followed by centuries of extreme cold, now known as the Little Ice Age (from about 1300 to about 1850).’’Global warming was great benefit!“There was no “Scientific Revolution” during the seventeenth century—these brilliant achievements were the culmination of normal scientific progress stretching back to the founding of universities in the twelfth century by Scholastic natural philosophers.’’I’ve come to same conclusion.“The Reformations did not result in religious freedom but merely replaced repressive Catholic monopoly churches with equally repressive Protestant monopoly churches (it became a serious criminal offense to celebrate the Mass in most of Protestant Europe).’’Reformation led to the wars of nationalism. Horrible. Still.“Europe did not grow rich by draining wealth from its worldwide colonies; in fact, the colonies drained wealth from Europe—and meanwhile gained the benefits of modernity.’’So true.Very . . . deeply . . . counter cultural.Are you ready?What else?“Or, why did science and democracy originate in the West, along with representational art, chimneys, soap, pipe organs, and a system of musical notation? Why was it that for several hundred years beginning in the thirteenth century only Europeans had eyeglasses and mechanical clocks? And what about telescopes, microscopes, and periscopes?”Good questions.What is his focus?“In attempting to explain this remarkable cultural singularity, I will, of course, pay attention to material factors—obviously history would have been quite different had Europe lacked iron and coal or been landlocked. Even so, my explanations will not rest primarily on material conditions and forces. Instead I give primacy to ideas, even though this is quite unfashionable in contemporary scholarly circles.’’Ideas matter.One idea that really matters . . .“Similarly, it is ideas that explain why science arose only in the West. Only Westerners thought that science was possible, that the universe functioned according to rational rules that could be discovered. We owe this belief partly to the ancient Greeks and partly to the unique Judeo-Christian conception of God as a rational creator.’’This conclusion rejected by many . . . most . . . What You Don’t Know about the Rise of the WestPart I Classical Beginnings (500 BC–AD 500) 1   Stagnant Empires and the Greek “Miracle”2   Jerusalem’s Rational God 3   The Roman InterludePart II The Not-So-Dark Ages (500–1200) 4   The Blessings of Disunity5   Northern Lights over Christendom 6   Freedom and CapitalismPart III Medieval Transformations (1200–1500)7    Climate, Plague, and Social Change 8    The Pursuit of Knowledge9    Industry, Trade, and Technology10   Discovering the WorldPart IV The Dawn of Modernity (1500–1750) 11   New World Conquests and Colonies12   The Golden Empire13   The Lutheran Reformation: Myths and Realities14   Exposing Muslim Illusions15   Science Comes of AgePart V Modernity (1750– )16   The Industrial Revolution17   Liberty and Prosperity18   Globalization and ColonialismOne overriding opinion is Marx’ teaching that ideas don’t, can’t influence human history.Well . . .“If Marx was sincere when he dismissed the possibility of ideas being causative agents as “ideological humbug,” one must wonder why he labored so long to communicate his socialist ideas rather than just relaxing and letting “economic determinism” run its “inevitable” course. In fact, Marx’s beloved material causes exist mainly as humans perceive them—as people pursue goals guided by their ideas about what is desirable and possible. Indeed, to explain why working-class people so often did not embrace the socialist revolution, Marx and Friedrich Engels had to invent the concept of “false consciousness”—an entirely ideological cause.’’So . . . so . . . obvious!This is a work that should change the opinions and assumptions of modern culture, society.Won’t happen.Sad.Work deserves ten stars!Hundreds and hundreds of notes (linked)Tremendous scholarship!Thousands of references in bibliography (not linked)Outstanding research!Detailed index (linked)Great!No photographs

Informative and interesting.

Os livros de Rodney Stark são verdadeiras fontes de conhecimento. Neste, ele nos narra toda a base do Mundo Ocidental - que deveria ser motivo de orgulho, porque daí que o progresso, a caridade, o respeito, a economia e tantas outras conquistas, vieram. O autor desmonta todas as falácias que a esquerda promove contra a Igreja Católica - a verdadeira fundadora do capitalismo (e não o protestantismo). Em tempos em que querem subverter tudo - desde a lógica matemática até a biologia da vida - os estudos de Rodney Stark são um raio de esperança. É um estudo que recomendo fortemente.

Stark provides a very convincing and thoroughly researched case for the rise of Western Civilization. He brilliantly shatters many of history's greatest myths and proves:- how backwards and anti-progressive the Romans were;- how the Dark Ages were actually an era of tremendous scientific, technological, and economic progress;- how the "Scientific Revolution" was actually birthed centuries early in the supposed "Dark Ages";- how the ideas and practice of Christianity have been, overwhelmingly, the greatest force for good in the world, and how it birthed the idea and culture of progress that led to modernity

Interested in a non-politically correct historic account of Western Civilisation? Well, Stark's “How The West Won” book is by all means an excellent start, for it dismantles several relevant “truths” dished out into today's mainstream dogmata.Instead of the usual root dismissal, Stark takes us back over two millennia to show how the unique western concept of God paved way for a triumphal civilisation. A God that bequeathed humanity with “free will”, the necessary “tool” to the unravelling of natural phenomena and hence the pursue of knowledge that begets science, that begets technology!In this wonderful over two millennia journey, here and there, dogmatic “truths” are challenged on substantiated terms, such as why the so called Dark Ages were not so dark after all! As for the “whys”, you've come this far, so I won't be a spoiler.....Excellent account, easy read, five stars, (because there are no more to award).

It is nice for a change to read a more positive view of the role of western culture and science on world affairs. Bashing the West has become the norm and it is no longer politically correct to say anything positive about the west and its contributions. Also the positive role of Christianity in the development of modern science learning and universities is described.

Chiarezza di idee e di esposizione in una coerente sintesi critica della storia. Per chiunque sia interessato a conoscere le traiettorie storiche dell'uomo ma sopratutto per coloro che vogliono comprendere lo stato attuale del mondo