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A review by drifterontherun
Civilization: The West and the Rest by Niall Ferguson
3.0
Though this is only the first of his books that I've read, I've come to formulate quite a positive opinion of Niall Ferguson based on what I've seen and read of him. Our politics don't entirely align, but I like him nonetheless. While his "Civilization" deals quite a lot with politics, in particular Ferguson's opinion on why Western civilization has dominated that of the rest of the world for the past 200 years or so, it isn't because I disagree with him that I can't bring myself to wholeheartedly support this book but rather because "Civilization" feels more like an appetizer when one is wanting a main course.
Ferguson identifies six factors or, as he unfortunately dubs them, "six killer apps" as reason for the West's dominance, but let's stop and ponder that name for a bit. Ferguson has mentioned in interviews that "Civilization" was originally intended as a course at Harvard University where he works as a Professor of History. From there, it was then commissioned as a potential television documentary, and then finally as the book we have here. In my opinion, "Civilization" the book carries with too many aspects leftover from both the course and the proposed television series. It feels, at times, like a dumbed down history lesson for the MTV crowd. Ferguson feels in some places consciously aware of his needing to appeal to a younger, hipper demographic, and as a result we get awkward references to (albeit old) pop songs and language (e.g. the aforementioned "Killer Apps") that just 5 years after publication already feels outdated. But it isn't just the references that left me slightly cringing, it's thinking of the ways in which Ferguson might have revised his thesis had he written it today, after the events of the Arab Spring and recent Chinese currency problems threaten to derail - or at the least, add a worthy footnote - to certain assumptions he makes.
Another problem with "Civilization" is that it covers the six "killer apps" behind the West's dominance with too little explanation over all, and Ferguson seems at times like he's recording a podcast rather than writing a book. In other words, certain bits come off as disjointed. Ferguson gives Protestantism partial credit for the West's rise but without ever really explaining why a town's having more churches is at all a good thing. He seems to be racing through his own book, as if he started it knowing in advance that it had to be no more than 432 pages, bibliography included. As a result too little explanation is given to certain parts. This isn't as bad as it could be... I was, after all, interested enough in Ferguson's thesis to want to read a more in depth analysis of it.
But no, I am still giving this book 3 stars because it does offer its share of interesting insights. When speaking about the affect of nationalist, Ferguson does offer a great line by saying that if "Religion is the opiate of the masses, then nationalism is the cocaine of the Middle Classes." That was quite good. And I also found humor in the fact that it wasn't even so much what the West did that made their society so great, it's what the Rest didn't do. China, for example, forbade the exploration of lands outside of its own - and this in the age of discovery, which China went into poised to best perhaps all the European powers when it came to making revolutionary discoveries. Or, when discussing the incompetence of the Muslim world during an enlightenment that saw Europe making breathtaking scientific discoveries, Ferguson points to the Ottoman Empire. Gifted with the ability to take a telescope and search the heavens, the vapid Muslim clerics cried "blasphemy." Man? Able to see into the heavens? Outrageous! And so the Ottoman Empire - and the Muslim world by extent - was forced to watch as the Western World surpassed them in all areas scientific.
In all, I'm glad I read "Civilization" although it does make me pine after the book it could have been. Maybe, one day, Niall Ferguson will get around to writing that - while leaving the "hip" terminology to the Daily Show.
Ferguson identifies six factors or, as he unfortunately dubs them, "six killer apps" as reason for the West's dominance, but let's stop and ponder that name for a bit. Ferguson has mentioned in interviews that "Civilization" was originally intended as a course at Harvard University where he works as a Professor of History. From there, it was then commissioned as a potential television documentary, and then finally as the book we have here. In my opinion, "Civilization" the book carries with too many aspects leftover from both the course and the proposed television series. It feels, at times, like a dumbed down history lesson for the MTV crowd. Ferguson feels in some places consciously aware of his needing to appeal to a younger, hipper demographic, and as a result we get awkward references to (albeit old) pop songs and language (e.g. the aforementioned "Killer Apps") that just 5 years after publication already feels outdated. But it isn't just the references that left me slightly cringing, it's thinking of the ways in which Ferguson might have revised his thesis had he written it today, after the events of the Arab Spring and recent Chinese currency problems threaten to derail - or at the least, add a worthy footnote - to certain assumptions he makes.
Another problem with "Civilization" is that it covers the six "killer apps" behind the West's dominance with too little explanation over all, and Ferguson seems at times like he's recording a podcast rather than writing a book. In other words, certain bits come off as disjointed. Ferguson gives Protestantism partial credit for the West's rise but without ever really explaining why a town's having more churches is at all a good thing. He seems to be racing through his own book, as if he started it knowing in advance that it had to be no more than 432 pages, bibliography included. As a result too little explanation is given to certain parts. This isn't as bad as it could be... I was, after all, interested enough in Ferguson's thesis to want to read a more in depth analysis of it.
But no, I am still giving this book 3 stars because it does offer its share of interesting insights. When speaking about the affect of nationalist, Ferguson does offer a great line by saying that if "Religion is the opiate of the masses, then nationalism is the cocaine of the Middle Classes." That was quite good. And I also found humor in the fact that it wasn't even so much what the West did that made their society so great, it's what the Rest didn't do. China, for example, forbade the exploration of lands outside of its own - and this in the age of discovery, which China went into poised to best perhaps all the European powers when it came to making revolutionary discoveries. Or, when discussing the incompetence of the Muslim world during an enlightenment that saw Europe making breathtaking scientific discoveries, Ferguson points to the Ottoman Empire. Gifted with the ability to take a telescope and search the heavens, the vapid Muslim clerics cried "blasphemy." Man? Able to see into the heavens? Outrageous! And so the Ottoman Empire - and the Muslim world by extent - was forced to watch as the Western World surpassed them in all areas scientific.
In all, I'm glad I read "Civilization" although it does make me pine after the book it could have been. Maybe, one day, Niall Ferguson will get around to writing that - while leaving the "hip" terminology to the Daily Show.