How the West Won
The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity
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Narrated by:
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Kevin Foley
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By:
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Rodney Stark
About this listen
Modernity developed only in the West - in Europe and North America. Nowhere else did science and democracy arise; nowhere else was slavery outlawed. Only Westerners invented chimneys, musical scores, telescopes, eyeglasses, pianos, electric lights, aspirin, and soap. The question is, why? Unfortunately, that question has become so politically incorrect that most scholars avoid it. But acclaimed author Rodney Stark provides the answers in this sweeping new look at Western civilization.
How the West Won demonstrates the primacy of uniquely Western ideas - among them the belief in free will, the commitment to the pursuit of knowledge, the notion that the universe functions according to rational rules that can be discovered, and the emphasis on human freedom and secure property rights. How the West Won displays Stark's gifts for lively narrative history and making the latest scholarship accessible to all. This bold, insightful book will force you to rethink your understanding of the West and the birth of modernity - and to recognize that Western civilization really has set itself apart from other cultures.
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- Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War
- By: Howard W. French
- Narrated by: James Fouhey
- Length: 16 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Born in Blackness vitally reframes the story of medieval and emerging Africa, demonstrating how the economic ascendancy of Europe, the anchoring of democracy in the West, and the fulfillment of so-called Enlightenment ideals all grew out of Europe's dehumanizing engagement with the "dark" continent. In fact, French reveals, the first impetus for the Age of Discovery was not—as we are so often told, even today—Europe's yearning for ties with Asia, but rather its centuries-old desire to forge a trade in gold with legendarily rich Black societies in the heart of West Africa.
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American History World History Our History
- By Bill on 06-13-22
By: Howard W. French
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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
- Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor
- By: David S. Landes
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 21 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The Wealth and Poverty of Nations is David S. Landes' acclaimed, best-selling exploration of one of the most contentious and hotly debated questions of our time: Why do some nations achieve economic success while others remain mired in poverty? The answer, as Landes definitively illustrates, is a complex interplay of cultural mores and historical circumstance.
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A detailed explanation
- By Kaarlis on 12-07-21
By: David S. Landes
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Superpower Interrupted
- The Chinese History of the World
- By: Michael Schuman
- Narrated by: Shawn Compton
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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This global history as the Chinese would write it gives brilliant and unconventional insights for understanding China's role in the world, especially the drive to "Make China Great Again." In this colorful, informative story filled with fascinating characters, epic battles, influential thinkers, and decisive moments, we come to understand how the Chinese view their own history and how its narrative is distinctly different from that of Western civilization.
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Nice overview
- By Matthew G. Towner on 08-12-20
By: Michael Schuman
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Powers and Thrones
- A New History of the Middle Ages
- By: Dan Jones
- Narrated by: Dan Jones
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
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When the once-mighty city of Rome was sacked by barbarians in 410 and lay in ruins, it signaled the end of an era—and the beginning of a thousand years of profound transformation. In a gripping narrative bursting with big names—from St Augustine and Attila the Hun to the Prophet Muhammad and Eleanor of Aquitaine—Dan Jones charges through the history of the Middle Ages. Powers and Thrones takes listeners on a journey through an emerging Europe, the great capitals of late Antiquity, as well as the influential cities of the Islamic West.
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Hard to take a break from it!
- By Mariano's Music on 12-09-21
By: Dan Jones
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The Greeks
- A Global History
- By: Roderick Beaton
- Narrated by: Anna Crowe
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
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More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek city-states, led by Athens and Sparta, laid the foundation for much of modern science, the arts, politics, and law. But the influence of the Greeks did not end with the rise and fall of this classical civilization. As historian Roderick Beaton illustrates, over three millennia Greek speakers produced a series of civilizations that were rooted in southeastern Europe but again and again ranged widely across the globe.
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An Ethnography of the Greeks
- By gmurphy92 on 03-27-22
By: Roderick Beaton
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The Viking Heart
- How Scandinavians Conquered the World
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
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Scandinavia has always been a world apart. For millennia Norwegians, Danes, Finns, and Swedes lived a remote and rugged existence among the fjords and peaks of the land of the midnight sun. But when they finally left their homeland in search of opportunity, these wanderers — including the most famous, the Vikings — would reshape Europe and beyond.
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Confused and not worth the time and money
- By Jacob The Dane on 08-16-21
By: Arthur Herman
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Empires of the Weak
- The Real Story of European Expansion and the Creation of the New World
- By: J. C. Sharman
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
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What accounts for the rise of the state, the creation of the first global system, and the dominance of the West? The conventional answer asserts that superior technology, tactics, and institutions forged by Darwinian military competition gave Europeans a decisive advantage in war from 1500 onward. Empires of the Weak argues that Europeans had no general military superiority in the early modern era. Sharman shows instead that European expansion is better explained by deference to strong Asian and African polities, disease in the Americas, and maritime supremacy earned by default.
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a great read
- By José de Ribera on 02-02-23
By: J. C. Sharman
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Lost Islamic History
- Reclaiming Muslim Civilisation from the Past
- By: Firas Alkhateeb
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
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Islam has been one of the most powerful religious, social, and political forces in history. Over the last 1,400 years, from origins in Arabia, a succession of Muslim polities, and later empires expanded to control territories and peoples that ultimately stretched from southern France to East Africa and South East Asia. Yet many of the contributions of Muslim thinkers, scientists, and theologians, not to mention rulers, statesmen, and soldiers, have been occluded. This book rescues from oblivion and neglect some of these personalities and institutions.
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Excellent narration
- By Jamal on 06-19-22
By: Firas Alkhateeb
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The Invention of Yesterday
- A 50,000-Year History of Human Culture, Conflict, and Connection
- By: Tamim Ansary
- Narrated by: Tamim Ansary
- Length: 17 hrs and 4 mins
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Traveling across millennia, weaving the experiences and world views of cultures both extinct and extant, The Invention of Yesterday shows that the engine of history is not so much heroic (battles won), geographic (farmers thrive), or anthropogenic (humans change the planet) as it is narrative. Many thousands of years ago, when we existed only as countless small autonomous bands of hunter-gatherers widely distributed through the wilderness, we began inventing stories - to organize for survival, to find purpose and meaning, to explain the unfathomable.
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Relaxed but packed with insight
- By Tad Davis on 02-14-20
By: Tamim Ansary
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The Verge
- Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years That Shook the World
- By: Patrick Wyman
- Narrated by: Patrick Wyman
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
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In the best-selling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror, The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization, humanistic learning, gunpowder warfare, and mass religious conflict in the long term, and their intensely disruptive consequences in the short-term.
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Like the Podcast but Better.
- By Michael S. Labrow on 07-21-21
By: Patrick Wyman
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What listeners say about How the West Won
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bert Branson
- 04-21-17
Enlightening.
Enjoyed the balance administered to the secular narrative and its received orthodoxy. Let the debate between the competeing worldviews continue... I think Christ is best served and His program benefits... And His detractors appear guilty of the bigotry they so often try to incriminate others for.
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- Dr. David Odegard
- 12-18-18
best book ever.
Stark is one of the best at challenging the accepted status quo. He takes no prisoners in his history writing.
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- Jorge Narvaez
- 07-29-16
pulling back the curtain on hidden history.
Finally! A book that explains the "why" of Western superiority, power, freedom and modernity. Outstanding!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Matt V.
- 03-27-15
A needed assault on modern perceptions of history
Many have preconceived notions of how history unfolded and the West was (and is) a big, bad bully forcing our thoughts and beliefs on the smaller and poorer regions of the world. Rodney Stark turns this thinking on its head and would force even the staunchest of historical revisionists to question their beliefs about history.
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- Sasha
- 10-13-15
very interesting. packed with info.
Great book. Need to listen to it twice as there is a lot of information to absorb.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Timothy Wachtstetter
- 11-02-20
Rodney Stark does it again. Amazing!
An incredible primer on the rise and success of Western civilization! I highly recommend this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Max
- 06-05-20
Excellent!
The narration was very good, making the advance over the centuries to modern times exciting and captivating. This one of my favorite audio books.
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- Amazon Customer
- 06-10-16
How does Jessy Jackson get to decide who learns ?
It is sad when people decide what other people need to know , stealing potential knowledge of others out of jealousy,
It's too bad Western Civilization studies has been removed from universities, didn't Hitler and other monsters burn books so he could write his own version of history... this is a good book!
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- Philip
- 12-01-14
Another point of view.
If you could sum up How the West Won in three words, what would they be?
How the West Won is the story of Christendom. Stark takes us through the period of Greek thought and its meeting with Christianity in what he calls: The Roman Interlude. He points out that Rome acted more like a protection racket than an actual ruling entity. Moving from uncovering the continuation of scientific thought in the Middle Ages and Renaissance to influence of Christianity in the ages of Discovery and the Enlightenment, Stark shows that Christendom's unique understanding of God and creation compelled its thinkers to keep discovering. Most importantly he shows that it was because of Christendom, rather than inspite of it, that the West was able to accomplish so much more. Key to all of this is a notion of freedom that was not extant elsewhere in the world.
What did you like best about this story?
I appreciated Stark looking at the data and asking questions of the accepted thinking. Many this day and age do a good job questioning thinking without looking at all the data.
What does Kevin Foley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
He does a fine job and conveys the text very well.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I appreciated the inclusion of Robert Woodberry's study about missions. I couldn't believe it myself when I heard it; but Stark isn't exaggerating when he declares it to be one of the most questioned and re-examined studies. It holds up. It says a lot about Christianity that it has led to such amazing advances far from the Western roots.
Any additional comments?
At times Stark can push his point farther than all the history might suggest. Yet, in an Aristotelian way he is trying to counteract the poor scholarship and biases shown by people who hold to a secular metanarrative. On the whole Mr. Stark's bias is only really perceived because he doesn't tow the academic line. Ultimately one should read this book (or listen in this case) in addition to other viewpoints as well.
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- Steve-a-reno
- 06-08-15
A must read!
Learn the facts about Western cultural development before you regurgitate what you have learned since the 1970's from largely West despising left-wing fable prevaricators' tales of Western bullying and self-interested greed. The blame the West (and especially America) crowd probably despises this truthful account, but facts speak louder than lies.
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