The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Environmental Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-First Century

The modern world is characterized by industry, the nation state, interstate warfare, a large and growing gap between the wealthiest and poorest parts of the world, increasing inequality within the wealthiest industrialized countries, and an escape from the environmental constraints of the "biological old regime." Its origins are due to contingencies, the broad comparability of the most advanced regions in China, India, and Europe, the reasons why England was able to escape from common ecological constraints by the end of the eighteenth century, a conjuncture of human and natural forces that solidified a gap between the industrialized and non-industrialized parts of the world, the mounting environmental crisis that defines the modern world, and the ways in which the forces of globalization stress the economic and political underpinnings of the modern world.

Format: Hardback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 02 January 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

This comprehensive and captivating book offers a comprehensive global account of the origins of the modern world from 1400 to the present. Unlike many studies that tend to focus on the "rise of the West" as the primary narrative of modernity, this history incorporates new scholarship on Asia, Africa, and the New World, as well as the emerging field of environmental history. Robert B. Marks defines the modern world as characterized by industrialization, the nation-state system, interstate warfare, widening economic disparities between the richest and poorest regions, growing inequality within industrialized countries, and a break from the environmental constraints of the "biological old regime." He elucidates the origins of the modern world by highlighting the role of contingencies, such as the conquest of the New World, the comparable development of advanced regions in China, India, and Europe, England's unique escape from ecological constraints, a convergence of human and natural forces that widened the gap between industrialized and non-industrialized parts of the world, the escalating environmental crisis that defines the modern era, and the ways in which globalization exacerbates the economic and political foundations of the modern world. In a newly updated edition, the book delves into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, examining the United States' rise as a global power and its subsequent status as the sole superpower. It also explores the changing relationship between humans and the environment, highlighting the implications for the future.

Weight: 581g
Dimension: 236 x 161 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781538182765
Edition number: Fifth Edition