Chris Brooks Com 112 March 27, 2000 "The Rise of the West" This book starts, by giving lawful information about the beginning of history, and how it started. It also, compares several cultures and civilizations to the powers that each of them has. The insights into how and why certain developments took place in history that are presented in this book make it fascinating. It spans the early civilizations of the Middle East to modern times and the …showed first 75 words of 303 total…

…showed last 75 words of 303 total…the Oxus. Regardless, McNeill expounds a sound theory that civilizations didn't evolve in isolation, but that the interplay of different cultures enabled their progress. McNeill weaves migrations, conquests, international trade, and technological innovations into a riveting story on how modern civilization rose from the fields of the fertile crescent. The book reads like an epic novel -- albeit with lots of footnotes -- in that it weaves over 5,000 years of history into a single story.