The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years That Shook the World

Beautifully written, immensely readable, and clearly articulated, The Verge is a fascinating study of an absolutely pivotal point in history that led to the creation of our current world.As he does with his podcasts Fall of Rome and Tides of History, Wyman brings history to real, robust life with descriptive language that recreates a historical scene and lets you imagine the sights, sounds, and smells associated with this critical period between 1490 and 1530. The Verge, and history itself, is the story of living, breathing human beings whose blood, sweat and tears are as much a part of history as the results of great battles and quarrels over royal successions.The Verge is as much the story of wool traders and printers as it is that of mercenaries and emperors. These are not separate stories. Wyman argues that the market forces that guided printers and merchants also influenced and directed the actions of emperors and explorers during this pivotal period. The wheels of commerce touched every aspect of European society and life, with the blood-soaked forces of war-making, religious disputes, and exploring feeding back into the world of commerce, in turn making these economic wheels spin even more quickly, which then again fed back into conflict and conquest, to tragic results in succeeding centuries and shaping the world we live in today. Wyman examines how Europeans paid for all of this economic activity, and demonstrates that it was not some innate cultural superiority that led to subsequent global dominance, but unique financial systems whose ultimate foundation was credit and borrowing, which built the modern world upon the bones of its many victims and gives the reader context and a better understanding of our current decade. A recommended read!

I found the podcasts The fall of Rome a year ago. I have become a faithful listener ever since. I continue to listen to its new podcast Tides of History. Mr. Wyman is an excellent story teller. The book is almost the same as listening to his podcast but with more detail and a dipped understanding of the material being discussed. I look towards to his next project when ever it comes out.

Patrick Wyman’s The Verge attempts to help answer what has become one of central historical questions of the twenty-first century: Why did the cultural backwater of medieval Europe rise to become the dominant power on the planet?While Wyman does not have the depth or scholarship of Jarred Diamond’s Guns, Germs and Steel—the first book I know of to phrase the enigma this way—that doesn’t mean it is uninteresting or not worth reading.Wyman chooses to focus on the history of four critical decades, 1490-1530. A contemporary analogy would be explaining modern history by focusing on the explosive changes of the 1960s.He then identifies ten key individuals whose life stories help explain the changes in European institutions at this time. The chapters aren’t really biographies, one rarely gets a sense of the person, but they are insightful nonetheless.Essentially, Wyman emphasizes banking and other financial institutions as giving Europe an edge. Coupled with the pillaging of New World peoples, Europe slowly gains ascendancy over long-lasting rivals like the Ottomans.Personally, I think Wyman underrates intellectual history and places too much emphasis on material goods, warfare and political actors. Isn’t it the Declaration of Independence that has inspired generations of revolutionaries worldwide? Haven’t many countries tried to imitate the Anglo-American form of democracy? Don’t the ideas of even a cultural outsider like Nietzsche continue to be read by the youth of many peoples?Despite these disagreements and descriptive imagery that borders on the cliche, I did get something out of this book and recommend it to all with an interest in modern European history.

Wyman’s podcast is informative and entertaining at the same time. His books are just as good if not better.

I really enjoyed this book! Patrick Wyman does an excellent job telling a really big story, through the eyes of individuals both great and small. At once a grand, epic narrative, while also close and personal. I especially likes the discussions of finance throughout the book, as that was an area of this time period I was not very familiar with.

Love Patrick’s work on Tides of History so it was a no-brained to pick this book up. It delivered above high expectations! Great and interesting read, difficult to put down. Love the structure vs. other narrative popular histories I’ve read. Looking forward to the next one!

We love the Podcast. He really brings the history alive

While any good writer can make the story of a one armed, beer swilling German mercenary a compelling one, a great writer like Patrick turns the travails of an English wool merchant into a page turner.The Verge is fun, interesting and informative and and easy read. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

"The Verge" von Patrick Wyman beschreibt fesselnd wie die damals neuen Instrumente des Kapitalismus Europa in den Jahren 1490 bis 1530 revolutioniert haben.

Been listening to this man since he was a co-host of Heavy Hands, then fall of rome and finally tides of history. A big fan! The book is very solid. Can't recommend it enough

Das diese geschichtliche Periode 1490-1530, bekannt als die "Schwelle zur Neuzeit", einen prägenden Impakt auf die danachfolgenden Jahrhunderte hatte, ist unter Historikern fast eine Binsenweisheit. Entsprechend das angepeilte Publikum, beschreibt Patrick Wyman das Thema in einem jugendlichen Sprachdiktus, was eher zur einem vulgarisierenden Blog als zu einer wissenschaftlichen Arbeit passt. Soweit aber OK.Aber auch argumentativ finde ich dass er seine Thesen unzureichend begründet. In unterschiedlichen Kapiteln wiederholt er seine These vom vorteilhaften, investorengetragenen Finanzsystem der damaligen Europäer, ohne deutlich darzulegen wo das denn besser funktioniert hätte. Da spielt seine eigene Herkunft als US-Amerikaner des 21sten Jahrhundert offensichtlich sehr mit und trübt seine Objektivität als PhD Historiker. Wie würde Wyman wohl die erfolgreichen Reisen des Zheng He erklären ?Sein ausführliches Lob auf das damals vorbildliche Staatssystem des Ottomanischen Reiches, inkl. Militär, Logistik und Steuersystem, das soviel besser wirtschaftete als die chronisch klammen westeuropäischen Herrschern, erklärt uns gerade nicht wieso dann diese Europäer letztendlich erfolgreicher würden.Am ehesten überzeugt noch seine Begründung von Luther's Erfolg und Einfluss auf der Geschichte durch Verbreitung dessen Gedankengut durch Buchdruck.Wyman lässt aber sehr ausser Acht, dass fast alle europäischen Staaten ab 1490 jahrhundertelang einen Grossteil der Welt gnadenlos unterworfen und exzessiv ausgebeutet haben (Einen ganz anderen Ansatz als Zheng He). Diese enormen Ressourcen gipfelten im 19.-20. Jahrhundert in einer Welt, wo tatsächlich die Europäer (inkl. "Ableger" Nordamerika) eine "Great Divergence" gegenüber den Rest der Welt entwickelt hatten. Das, und nicht zweifelhafte bessere Konzepte der Europäer zur Zeit 1490-1530, hat den Unterschied gemacht.

Well written, enjoyable,informative. Great companion book to his Tides of History podcast. Would recommend to anybody looking beyond the great man approach