Skip to content

The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy (Princeton Classics, 117) Paperback - 2021

by Pomeranz, Kenneth

  • New

Description

Princeton University Press. New. Special order direct from the distributor
New
NZ$33.16
NZ$24.92 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 6 to 12 days
More Shipping Options
Ships from Russell Books Ltd (British Columbia, Canada)

Details

About Russell Books Ltd British Columbia, Canada

Biblio member since 2006
Seller rating: This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.

Family owned and operated since 1961. Located in Downtown Victoria selling new, used, and remainder titles in all categories. We also have an extensive selection of Journals, cards and calendars.

Terms of Sale: For further information - (250) 361-4447 (GST applied to all Canadian orders). Shipping prices are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. Canadian and U.S. orders sent with Automated Package Tracking and delivery confirmation, where available. If your book order is heavy or over-sized, we may contact you regarding any extra shipping costs.

Browse books from Russell Books Ltd

From the publisher

A landmark comparative history of Europe and China that examines why the Industrial Revolution emerged in the West

The Great Divergence sheds light on one of the great questions of history: Why did sustained industrial growth begin in Northwest Europe? Historian Kenneth Pomeranz shows that as recently as 1750, life expectancy, consumption, and product and factor markets were comparable in Europe and East Asia. Moreover, key regions in China and Japan were no worse off ecologically than those in Western Europe, with each region facing corresponding shortages of land-intensive products. Pomeranz's comparative lens reveals the two critical factors resulting in Europe's nineteenth-century divergence--the fortunate location of coal and access to trade with the New World. As East Asia's economy stagnated, Europe narrowly escaped the same fate largely due to favorable resource stocks from underground and overseas. This Princeton Classics edition includes a preface from the author and makes a powerful historical work available to new readers.

From the rear cover

"Pomeranz uses that European invention--economics--to overturn Eurocentrism, establishing beyond cavil a New Fact in our world. Never again will Europeans imagine they stood alone in the doorway of economic growth. Pomeranz and his colleagues in the new sinology have reintroduced the Central Kingdom and its stunning historical sources, and Pomeranz has written the one essential book."--Deirdre McClosky, University of Iowa

"Pomeranz uses a mixture of institutional forces and technological/geological luck to explain how an economic and ecological 'tie game' suddenly became a victory for western Europe over China. He combines global imagination with the scientific detail needed to make his points hold firm. The Great Divergence should command widespread respect."--Peter H. Lindert, University of California, Davis

"A truly magisterial effort based on an immense knowledge of the field, a vast amount of reading, and on close and careful analysis, informed by both social science and history."--Joel Mokyr, Northwestern University

"This is an outstanding book, painstaking and devastating in its attack on received wisdom, supported by a wealth of solid evidence and elegant argument."--Jack A. Goldstone, University of California, Davis

Categories

About the author

Kenneth Pomeranz is University Professor of History at the University of Chicago. His books include The Making of a Hinterland and The World That Trade Created.