The European Miracle
Environments, Economies and Geopolitics in the History of Europe and Asia

Why modern states and economies developed in Europe first, and later in India and China.

Eric Jones (Author)

9780521527835, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 August 2003

344 pages, 1 map 8 tables
21.6 x 14 x 2.3 cm, 0.407 kg

'This is a bold, learned, and ecologically sensitive effort to answer the central question of modern and of world history. It deserves to be read and pondered by historians of every species and field of specialization.' The Journal of Modern History

Why did modern states and economies develop first in the peripheral and late-coming culture of Europe? This historical puzzle looms behind every study of industrialization and economic development. In this analytical and comparative work Eric Jones sees the economic condition forming where natural environments and political systems meet: Europe's economic rise is explained as a favoured interaction between them, contrasting with the frustrating pattern of their interplay in the Ottoman empire, India and China. For the third edition Professor Jones has added a new Preface and Afterword.

Part I. Eurasia: 1. Environmental and social conjectures
2. Disasters and capital accumulation
Part II. Europe: 3. Technological drift
4. The discoveries and ghost acreage
5. The market economy
6. The states system
7. Nation-states
Part III. The World: 8. Beyond Europe
Part IV. Asia: 9. Islam and the Ottoman Empire
10. India and the Mughal Empire
11. China and the Ming and Manchu Empires
Part V. Eurasia: 12. Summary and comparison
Annotated bibliographical guide
Bibliography and supplementary guide
Index.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], Asian history [HBJF], European history [HBJD], General & world history [HBG]