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DVD Description
The West once ruled more than half the world. The religion it exported is still followed by a third of mankind. Above all, the way people live--or aspire to live--is unmistakably an invention of the West. All over the world, more and more human beings eat a Western diet, wear Western clothes and live in Western housing. But are we living through the beginning of the end of the West’s ascendancy?
The series includes:
1. A Tale of Two Rivers: Why Western Europe’s economy outstripped Eastern China’s
2. The Siege: Why Central Europe turned the tide against the Ottoman Empire
3. New Worlds: Why North America succeeded where South America failed
4. Hearts of Darkness: Why Europe’s empires failed in their mission to “civilize” Africa
5. Cross-dressing Civilizations: The resurrection of the West as the “consumer society”
6. Lost Faiths: The decline of Western beliefs--not only Christianity, but also nationalism and even Communism.
The series includes:
1. A Tale of Two Rivers: Why Western Europe’s economy outstripped Eastern China’s
2. The Siege: Why Central Europe turned the tide against the Ottoman Empire
3. New Worlds: Why North America succeeded where South America failed
4. Hearts of Darkness: Why Europe’s empires failed in their mission to “civilize” Africa
5. Cross-dressing Civilizations: The resurrection of the West as the “consumer society”
6. Lost Faiths: The decline of Western beliefs--not only Christianity, but also nationalism and even Communism.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 50 people found the following review helpful
This is excellent factual TV, presented by an expert in the field who has that neat trick of finding pivotal moments in history and explaining them clearly and intelligently to the viewer.
Prof Ferguson's earlier series The Ascent Of Money [DVD] [2008] brilliantly explained how commerce evolved (and then why it all went so wonky in recent years). In this series he demonstrates exactly why western capitalism became the dominant economic and social structure of the 20th century, and gives us the benefit of his view on what might happen next. So he highlights crucial moments in the past -- when the Ming dynasty in China made sailing unlawful, for example, and turned inward instead of expanding outward -- which demonstrate his understanding that trade drives the economic development of a society. When religion or politics collide with commerce, Prof Ferguson demonstrates that cultural development frequently stalls when commerce is interrupted.
The series uses modern film on location to illustrate its themes; the shots of the Forbidden City and China's Great Wall perfectly demonstrated how far ahead Oriental society was compared to London at the time. And while the English were puttering around with fishing boats, the Chinese built a fleet of ocean-going ships, capable of carrying tens of thousands of troops or traders at a time...
Ferguson's central argument is that the West utilised six building blocks in the past to great effect (science, democracy, competition, medicine, ethics, etc) to build our modern civilisation, but that other societies are now taking the lead in many of these areas.
The six programmes in this set work *much* better on DVD than as originally shown on TV, without the advert breaks (and there's an irony for you!). There's as much info crammed into each 45 minute programme as you'll find in most BBC documentaries which take up a full hour, and Prof Ferguson mercifully does not repeat himself or recap each segment at eight minute intervals. I could live without so much repatition of the buzzphrase 'killer app', however!
Where this series excels is in bringing new information and historical detail to light. Many of Ferguson's insights are based around observations which haven't been done to death on other documentaries. For instance, his examination of two sets of Ottoman records showing the decline of beautiful calligraphy into careless scribble; a superb illustration of academic degeneration.
This is intelligent, thoughtful TV which examines and explains much of the modern world of economics and how it has influenced global development.
Highly recommended.
9/10
Prof Ferguson's earlier series The Ascent Of Money [DVD] [2008] brilliantly explained how commerce evolved (and then why it all went so wonky in recent years). In this series he demonstrates exactly why western capitalism became the dominant economic and social structure of the 20th century, and gives us the benefit of his view on what might happen next. So he highlights crucial moments in the past -- when the Ming dynasty in China made sailing unlawful, for example, and turned inward instead of expanding outward -- which demonstrate his understanding that trade drives the economic development of a society. When religion or politics collide with commerce, Prof Ferguson demonstrates that cultural development frequently stalls when commerce is interrupted.
The series uses modern film on location to illustrate its themes; the shots of the Forbidden City and China's Great Wall perfectly demonstrated how far ahead Oriental society was compared to London at the time. And while the English were puttering around with fishing boats, the Chinese built a fleet of ocean-going ships, capable of carrying tens of thousands of troops or traders at a time...
Ferguson's central argument is that the West utilised six building blocks in the past to great effect (science, democracy, competition, medicine, ethics, etc) to build our modern civilisation, but that other societies are now taking the lead in many of these areas.
The six programmes in this set work *much* better on DVD than as originally shown on TV, without the advert breaks (and there's an irony for you!). There's as much info crammed into each 45 minute programme as you'll find in most BBC documentaries which take up a full hour, and Prof Ferguson mercifully does not repeat himself or recap each segment at eight minute intervals. I could live without so much repatition of the buzzphrase 'killer app', however!
Where this series excels is in bringing new information and historical detail to light. Many of Ferguson's insights are based around observations which haven't been done to death on other documentaries. For instance, his examination of two sets of Ottoman records showing the decline of beautiful calligraphy into careless scribble; a superb illustration of academic degeneration.
This is intelligent, thoughtful TV which examines and explains much of the modern world of economics and how it has influenced global development.
Highly recommended.
9/10
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
I enjoyed this series. I am a professional UK engineer, not a historian or an economist. I found much of the material innovative, thought-provoking, and the description and differences between current major world groups (in terms of geography, history, religion, economic development etc) is very enlightening.
I'm somewhat disappointed to see some critical reviews here by people who seem to put their own view of "errors" by Ferguson as proof that the whole analysis is wrong. There are many facts and also many simplification in the treatise. The history of the world can't be written in a few DVDs! It is impossible to present something as complex as this without simplifications and interpretations; this does not make them wrong. Critics - when you can offer something better, then I for one would be glad to hear of it. Frankly I don't think you stand a chance of doing that. The power of a good analyst is seeing past the fog and perceiving the underlying dominant forces. I think Feguson hits the nail bang on the head.
Well done Prof - you've given me optimism and pessimism about the future. I still believe the world is in for a very rough ride in the next century, but I no longer believe it will necessarily end in disaster for mankind. I think we should all consider some of the optimism and pessimism in your analysis and act accordingly.
I'm somewhat disappointed to see some critical reviews here by people who seem to put their own view of "errors" by Ferguson as proof that the whole analysis is wrong. There are many facts and also many simplification in the treatise. The history of the world can't be written in a few DVDs! It is impossible to present something as complex as this without simplifications and interpretations; this does not make them wrong. Critics - when you can offer something better, then I for one would be glad to hear of it. Frankly I don't think you stand a chance of doing that. The power of a good analyst is seeing past the fog and perceiving the underlying dominant forces. I think Feguson hits the nail bang on the head.
Well done Prof - you've given me optimism and pessimism about the future. I still believe the world is in for a very rough ride in the next century, but I no longer believe it will necessarily end in disaster for mankind. I think we should all consider some of the optimism and pessimism in your analysis and act accordingly.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
I decided to watch this series a second time just recently, but, having just watched the episode about medicine, have decided to stop. It is an accessible, interesting and engaging series, but Ferguson digresses while also failing to address the topic in sufficient depth. At the beginning of the series he states that one of his main aims is to discuss why and how Western civilization had got ahead of non-Western societies. And so it should be. But, I feel that he does not make enough relevant comparisons between the West and the rest. He also discusses issues which, although interesting, are not really germane to the topic. To illustrate, in the episode about medicine, not a lot is said about the lack of progress in terms of medicine in non-Western societies over the centuries. The focus is entirely on Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Also, he goes on at considerable length about what rotters the Germans were in Africa, which is an interesting enough topic, but not germane to THE topic. in the episode about property, Ferguson illustrates his point by comparing at great length North American society and South and Central American societies, while pointing out that the latter two societies were built on a foundation created by the Spanish conquest. The thing is, Spain IS and, at the time of the conquest of the Americas, WAS a Western society. Nothing is said about other non-Western societies with regards to the 'killer app' of property.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
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"And yet as I stand here in Shanghai in the smog, I can't help feeling that Western civilization still has the edge .... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Q Quality
Shallow
A few interesting facts in the early episodes, but it soon goes downhill and is in free fall in the last episode, where the superficiality and mindlessness of the analysis of... Read more
Published 7 months ago by gluoff
Ferguson's Civiilised Western History
The other reviewers have provided enough detail. I am not an economist but thoroughly enjoyed the original series. Read more
Published 8 months ago by RR Waller
Belongs on Fox
This is truly awful stuff. Ferguson has neither a material nor an objective view of history and it shows in an alarming way in this 'documentary' series. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Andrew Orphanoudakis
Honest and evaluative opinion
Niall Ferguson talks about global issues as if he cares for the suffering of those that bear the brunt of environmental destruction or inner city slum living. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Sunil
another important series from Niall Ferguson
Introduction to the Series
FEATURES
BY NIALL FERGUSON
In this series, I want to show that what distinguished the West from the Rest - the mainsprings of... Read more
FEATURES
BY NIALL FERGUSON
In this series, I want to show that what distinguished the West from the Rest - the mainsprings of... Read more
Published 14 months ago by P. Finglas
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