Why does the West rule? In this magnum opus, eminent Stanford polymath Ian Morris answers this provocative question, drawing on 50,000 years of history, archeology, and the methods of social science, to make sense of when, how, and why the paths of development differed in the East and West — and what this portends for the 21st century. There are two broad schools of thought on why the West rules. Proponents of "Long-Term Lock-In" theories such as Jared Diamond suggest that from time immemorial, some critical factor— geography, climate, or culture perhaps — made East and West unalterably different, and determined that the industrial revolution would happen in the West and push it further ahead of the East. But the East led the West between 500 and 1600, so this development can't have been inevitable; and so proponents of "Short-Term Accident" theories argue that Western rule was a temporary aberration that is now coming to an end, with Japan, China, and India resuming their rightful places on the world stage. However, as the West led for 9,000 of the previous 10,000 years, it wasn't just a temporary aberration. So, if we want to know why the West rules, we need a whole new theory. Ian Morris, boldly entering the turf of Jared Diamond and Niall Ferguson, provides the broader approach that is necessary, combining the textual historian's focus on context, the anthropological archaeologist's awareness of the deep past, and the social scientist's comparative methods to make sense of the past, present, and future— in a way no one has ever done before.

编辑推荐 《东方历史评论》是由东方历史学会发起的一份面向高端受众的系列历史读物，倡导丰富、细腻、从容、生动再现历史情境、给读者以深刻历史感的历史书写方式，力图改变当前历史写作要么功利、僵硬，要么流俗、浅薄的现状。 《东方历史评论》倡导的阅读观念是：“历史的，批评的，审美的”。 本辑《东方历史评论》选取民国初年宋教仁遇刺案为专题，多角度梳理了事件细节和当时主要人物对此案的参与及观察评论，再现民初纷纭复杂的政坛斗争情形，并深入追问：为什么对宋案的处理会最终影响历史的走向，最终导致民初共和尝试的失败？寻找百年共和失败的密码，领略重大转折关口历史的运转机理和脉络，宋案无疑是最好的切入点。 本辑“影像”栏目为“苏联解体20年群像”， 著名摄影师苏里于苏联解体20年之际，走访了8位涵盖各阶层的典型人物，从他们的面庞和思考里窥探这一重大历史事件对个人的冲击与重塑。 此外，本辑还收入著名思想家弗朗西斯•福山谈论全球化语境下不平等的加剧侵蚀自由民主制度赖以栖身的中产阶级基础、著名历史学家霍布斯鲍姆回顾第三帝国形成等的文章；书评栏目重点推介了《帝国的精神生活：一段18世纪的家庭史》、《蒋介石与现代中国》等几本近期比较受关注的书。

本书通过运用比较政治学的方法，深入浅出地对世界的部分典型国家进行观察和描述，从中选取了英国、法国、德国、日本、俄罗斯、印度、墨西哥、尼日利亚、伊朗这9个国家作为分析的模型，以生动简洁的语言从历史、制度、政治文化、现状、争论等5个方面讲述公民需要了解的“国家常识”。 作者将国家的历史、地理与当代的发展现状紧密地联系在一起，运用大量篇幅追溯各国的历史，穿插地图直接展现各国所处的地缘环境，并且着重阐述了历史源流与地理环境对政治文化的变迁、制度的变更与当代议题的发展的影响。在叙述过程中，作者还强调了不同地域的民族文化特性、经济发展状况和教育制度。