Civilization

The West and the Rest

By: Niall Ferguson

Narrated by: Niall Ferguson

Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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 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, bestselling author 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.

©2011 Niall Ferguson (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Thought-provoking and possibly controversial." ( Library Journal)

Great overview of all history

Interesting overview of civilization at a depth that will fit in one volume. I highly recommend it.

Ferguson delivers a brief defense of Western Civ

A great read for the average person. For a historian, Ferguson delivers a concise and accessible defense/promotion of western Civ, but in his typical style, left me wanting more. Ferguson’s works are probably my most recommended reads to persons who are not historically inclined, but he always leaves me wanting more detail and chronically falls short of delivering satisfactory conclusions to his works. Indeed, the last few paragraphs of the work may be the most important and could have served as merely the beginning of a second volume that I would have eagerly devoured.

Civilization is thus, a good overview of Western Civ but would have benefited from much more substance and granularity offered by other historians. In this regard, Ferguson is once again my “gateway author” to explore some of the major themes he so aptly summarized.

if nothing else 5/5 for the final chapter

This is the type of book for which reviews will inevitably reflect the ideology of the reader. As well, the author clearly has a few axes to grind, although it's interesting how this book presents itself as almost as internal dialogue as -- not infrequently -- he argues against himself (a major positive mark to my mind). That all said, regardless of your views, the last chapter casting civilizations as dynamic systems in critical states is must-read material. The majority of big-history/big-idea authors (Diamond being a prime example) tend to present success or failure as more or less determined. This author argues systemic change for good or ill is typically both rapid and unanticipated. It may later be re-cast as a series of "just-so" stories to explain why it was inevitable but though there are patterns there are no inevitabilities when it comes to the course of human culture and civilization.

Thoughtful analysis of the ascendancy of the West.

It's almost taboo to openly ponder the question of why the "Western World," its customs, institutions, political structures, technologies, and even fashions have come to dominate the world for at least the last 500 years. There is almost an inherent implication that race or at least culture must play some role in the comparative dominance of West. Several authors have recently attempted to explain the ascendancy of the West by focusing on distinguishing factors or circumstances other that the West being predominately "white." Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is probably the most well known of these attempts. Diamond explicitly rejects race as an advantage and instead posits a theory of initial geographic/environmental advantage that is amplified throughout the course of history by positive feedback loops.

Text: In "Civilization," Neil Ferguson does not see race as worth even a mention, even if to just to discount it. Instead, Ferguson's analysis focuses on what factors that he deems "killer apps" (I know) that the West had and the Rest somehow lacked. These are (1) competition, (2) science, (3) the rule of law including property rights, (4) modern medicine, (5) consumerism, and (6) the work ethic arising from Christian and Protestant values. These "apps" were "downloaded" sometime around the Enlightenment and in conjunction propelled the West to world dominance. The relatively decentralized nature of Eurasian governments allowed competition between and within the political divisions. Competition was not limited to trade but included ideas. In the West, competition often took the forms of warfare and the race to claim colonial possessions. This fostered the rise and application of science and technologies, including the medicine necessary for Westerners survive in the lands they conquered. I found Ferguson's discussion of consumerism as a relatively new and positive societal aspect to be particularly interesting. The word "consumerism" is so negatively loaded these days that it is surprising and refreshing to hear an author intelligently expound its virtues and the positive role it plays as an engine for increasing the quality of our lives. Ferguson goes on to heap praise on the Protestant work ethic as healthy sense of competition and cohesion within communities. He also roundly maligns fundamentalist Islam and its repression of individual freedom. Frankly, I don't have a problem with that. Finally, the author concludes with a discussion of whether the West is in decline - something he points out has happened several times in the last couple of thousand years - and whether civilizations actually follow a cycle of rise and decline at all.


Narration: I always feel a bit of dread when purchasing a book narrated by its author. There are very few who can pull off a reading of their own text, but fortunately Neil Ferguson is one of those authors who can. The listener would be forgiven for thinking this narrator to be a professional actor instead of a gifted author.

Conclusion: "Civilization" is a interesting, sometimes fascinating, analysis of the particular characteristics of the Western World that set it apart and above the Rest of the World.

Distracting Audio

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The main narrator for this book did a great job. My problem was with the random guy who filled in as everyone who was quoted in the book. He acted as historical figures from all over Europe, Africa, and even Asia, all the while using the same Germanic-sounding accent and very distinct, wispy voice. This did not translate well at all and at times sounded like a caricature, particularly when he tried to adopt a fake Italian accent. When it came to Japanese, he didn't even try to modify his accent, which was probably for the better.

This book would have been stronger if 1) the main narrater just read everything or 2) there were different voice actors for each country.

The way history should be taught

Would you consider the audio edition of Civilization to be better than the print version?

It's a long book, and I preferred listening to the facts and story VS reading.

What did you like best about this story?

Brought histroy to life...going back a long long way! I wish history had been taught this way, with key themes, when I was a kid and beyond. Most interesting!

Any additional comments?

The book touches on our modern thinking...computer "apps" and brings historical context into todays world. I have a far richer appreciation for what is happening around the world and some of the possible compelling reaons, after listening to this book. Would not usually lisen to a book like this, but glad I did.

Mandatory for Anyone Who Cares About Civilization

What did you love best about Civilization?

The forthright willingness of Niall Ferguson to argue all sorts of non-PC ideas is refreshingly in era of pervasive ideological censorship. In our time, you are not allowed to claim the Western Civilization has led the world for the last 5 centuries (even though it is obviously true), that Christianity (notably Protestantism) was and is a vest blessing for mankind, that colonialism and imperialism brought benefits along with harm to the people of the world, etc. Niall Ferguson says all of this and a lot more.

Who was your favorite character and why?

This really isn't a book about characters. Plenty show up of course (hundreds to thousands are individually named). However, that's exactly the point. No one character stands out or is meant to. This is a book about the broad forces of history that have created our world.

Have you listened to any of Niall Ferguson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Niall Ferguson's narration of Niall Ferguson is excellent (he reads his own book). However, the somewhat contrived accents given to other characters are not always a plus.

Any additional comments?

This is a big book, full of well argued big ideas. It is a necessary book because the author dares to say all sorts of things that need to be said, but rarely are, because of dominant PC (Politically Correct) censorship. The list of big ideas is long and include.

1. The history of mankind for the last five centuries has been dominated by Western Civilization. Europe and later America (North America) have been the driving forces of essentially all progress in science, technology, medicine, commerce, war, politics, art, culture, clothing (Niall Ferguson is obsessed with clothing), etc. since 1500. This is obviously true, not virtually no one dares to say it.

2. Colonialism and Imperialism weren't all bad. Niall Ferguson doesn't trouble himself to deny the downsides, but does show that there were many positive effects as well. The colonial powers could be (and frequently were) brutal. But they also brought public health, education, political stability, infrastructure, etc (in some cases).

3. Christianity was and remains (partially) a powerful force in creating and sustaining Western Civilization. According to Niall Ferguson, Christianity helped to create the moral and intellectual basis of our society. That would be a contentious point these days. However, Ferguson goes further in arguing that Protestant Christianity played a major role in unleashing the productive powers of Europe and later America (North America). This was a commonplace idea 100 years ago (See Max Weber and "The Protestant Ethic") but not mentioned in polite company these days.

4. That North America (Anglo America) was and remains more successful than South America (Latin America) because North America was settled by Europeans whereas South America was conquered by Europeans (who then enslaved the natives and/or imported slaves). Ferguson presents DNA analysis to substantiate this point. According to Ferguson, this difference in origins gave rise to very different systems of land ownership with decisive long term consequences. Ferguson plays down the geographic advantages of North America (big rivers, fertile soil, coal reserves, etc.) that appear to have been material as well (in my opinion) along with the culture differences between the Americas.

5. Ferguson shows that government debt has been a decisive factor in weakening and ultimately destroying nations for a very, very long time. The history of public debt shows that it has been a destroyer and/or crippler of nations across a sufficient ranges of geographies and centuries to make it a general theme. For political reasons, today's liberals don't want to hear this. However, many conservatives (notably "supply siders") have adopted a "debt doesn't matter" ideology. Of course, economic elites have resisted taxation for as long as civilization has existed.

6. That the era of Western Civilization is over. Ferguson chronicles in great deal the relative decline of the West and the rise of East. Ferguson provides a wealth of statistics showing how Asia has overtaken the West to become the core of the global economy (if not global politics so far). Ferguson shows that China is the inevitable dominant power of the 21st century, sure to overtake (soon) and supplant the U.S. as the dominant economy of the world. Anyone who has spent 20 minutes looking at the statistics knows this to be true. However, policy and political elites in Europe and the United States are in almost complete denial on this point.

Overall, this is a good book. Perhaps a very good book. However, it does have its flaws. Ferguson needs a fact checker (19 people did not die for each ton of steel produced under Stalin). The converse is that the "bad facts" don't materially undermine his overall arguments. The broader point is that this book is history in support of an ideology. Ferguson is a liberal cosmopolitan with a typical embrace of free trade, open borders, capitalism, democracy, tolerance, etc. Anything he can extract from history is exploited to advance his agenda. Things that don't fit his worldview are played down at best.

For example, Ferguson goes to some lengths to claim the German eugenic ideology (before Hitler) was responsible for German colonial atrocities. The vastly larger genocide perpetuated by the liberal, cosmopolitan Belgians is barely mentioned. Of course, the fact that Keynes was the head of the British Eugenic society for 7 years (1937-1944) doesn't show up either.

As I have stated before, Ferguson deserves considerable credit for accurately observing the rise of Asia as the economic center of gravity for the global economy. However, he never quite admits that Asia has risen by rejecting much (but not all) of the liberal, cosmopolitan worldview he espouses. Singapore is not notably tolerant and is stunningly successful in spite of (because of) it. China is crassly mercantilist and is stunningly successful in spite of (because of) it. Japan rejected foreign investment during its post-war high growth period and was... The divergence of Asia from Ferguson's policy ideals and its success should be a key theme of a book like this, but is not.

Tre-men-dous

A must read and a great antidote to the declining quality of both the profession of historian and the civilisations they study.

Learned a lot - don’t agree with it all

Let’s talk about the performance. Dr Ferguson is a fine reader, but whoever is reading the quotes is terrible. So bad that I can’t tell which language is their first language.

Regarding the book, I read it during the pandemic so that gives a whole different flavor to the content. I disagree with his points about Christianity, and the lack of discussion about women as being a big factor in the rise of the West, but overall it was interesting and thought provoking.

The accents are ridiculous!

An otherwise excellent book marred by the ridiculous accents performed in quotes of non-English speaking notables. I will never understand why Simon Bolivar who presumably wrote in Spanish is translated to English and recited in a comic book German accent.