The World and the West: The European Challenge and the Overseas Response in the Age of Empire

by Philip D. Curtin

Book Overview

This book is a study of the interaction of the Western societies of Europe and America with others around the world in the past two centuries - the age of European empire. It deals with the European threat and the non-Western response, but the focus is on the ways in which people in Asia, Africa, and Indian America have tried to adapt their ways of life to the overwhelming European power that existed in this period. The challenge and the response...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521771358
• ISBN13: 9780521771351
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Nice Introduction

Curtin is a prominent historian and one of the founding figures of world or comparative history. His output has largely been relatively focused monographs and essays aimed largely at other scholars. This book is an apparent attempt to reach a larger reading public. The theme is the nature of Western domination of the globe over the 2-3 centuries and the reactions of other societies to Western dominance. This is not a systematic history. Curtin presents a series of short essays covering the trajectory of Western dominance, its characteristics, its decline, and the response of non-Western societies of Western dominance. Each essay centers on a single historic episode which is used to illustrate the general themes. At the same time, the concentration on specific episodes allows Curtin to emphasize the heterogeneous nature of this historic process. The essays are individually written well and conclude with a short and informative bibliography. Some cover well known topics, such as the Meiji restoration of Japan. Others, like his discussion of millenial movements resulting from encounters with the West, feature less familiar episodes. Curtin avoids dogma and theorizing and writes with a clear, succinct style. A very good book for those who are looking for a starting point on world history.

A Comprehensible Comparative History

As a graduate student of Near Eastern Studies, with an extreme interest in world history, I found Curtin's book both enlightening and pleasurable. The first part of his book offers a background from which his numerous case studies find their premise. The case studies themselves are the highlight of the book; collectively a masterpiece of comparative history, they offer both insight on the relativity to processes simultaneously occuring around the world, as well as patterns in society trends. All in all, I found this piece of work to be a wonderful read for any student or professor of both world and comparative history.

A totally new look on Westernization

Philip Curtin greatest tribute to history is to review 500 years of Western influence across the World with new eyes. Instead of a Eurocentered vision of the World (we civilized them all) or an anti-imperialist vision (everything the West has done is bad), he studies the 500 years of colonization in 4 steps.First, the conquest and how Europe took over the world. Basically prior to 1800, Europe only held a global string of outposts and it is after that date the European empires really become territorial. He also describes the impact of technology (medical science, a fundamental element for White men survival under the tropics) and the various politics of imperialism.Second, the cultural impact on different types societies all around the globe: America, Africa, Asia. Third how Europe tries to convert the World to its creed and how the World adopts some elements while rejects other. And fourth, how the colonies, semi-colonies or states influenced by Europe (Thailand, Japan) regain their independance, the type of responses (resistance: personal, utopian, revolutionnary) and how to succeed after the Europeans are gone.At the end of each chapter, the reader receives a list of recommanded books for further personal investigation (and there are many new paths to explore). And when the book is finished one as a better understanding of cultural relations, impact of colonization, possible paths of resistance against an agression, the internal mechanisms of a local society and how its cope with a foreign phenomenon, etc...A key book for the 21st century, not the definitive book about the subject but definitively the one offering a sweeping global vision on the subject for the first time.

Comparative History at its best

Within the history profession, Philip Curtin is one of the fathers of comparative history, if for no other reason than so many of his students have become professors who also write and teach comparative history. His stature within the profession is hard to exaggerate. At a recent conference on world history, I overheard a group of educators brainstorming a shortlist of "essential authors". They reached an immediate consensus on William McNeill, Alfred Crosby, and Philip Curtin...and then paused for debate. There is clearly an audience of professional historians out there who are review-proof. Thirty years ago, Philip Curtin published a book entitled *Imperialism*. Today the lexicon - and the perspective - have changed. He begins *The World and the West* with a discussion about the varieties of "colonialism". Only then does he begin to explore loaded concepts like "diffusion" and "modernization" using case studies that illustrate selective, syncretic processes. European states are reluctant, even unable, to administer colonies without the collaboration of local elites; efforts to modernize or reform lead to unintended consequences including defensive modernization and millennialism. Modernization inevitably transforms societies, but it often carries only a veneer of westernization.Curtin's forte is comparison, and his case studies reveal diversity than enrich his arguments. One expects Japan and the Ottomans, but Central Asia and South Africa? Buganda and Siam? Ghana and Indonesia? It's clear why Curtin is held in such high regard among world historians. The scope of his comparisons is global.This is clearly one of those 'not for everybody' books, but to its credit, it is under 300 pages and the case studies are very accessible. You don't need to be a professional historian to read and enjoy the book. Indeed, professional historians may take issue with some of Curtin's interpretations. (That's not just their right; it's their job.) My only criticism is that I would have liked more maps and photos - especially in the first half of the book. Other than that, I think Philip Curtin fans are in for a treat.