Great Divergence
by Q
About This Novel
"The Great Divergence" is the masterpiece of Pomeranz, a representative of the California School, and has been a best-seller for 20 years. In this book, based on a large amount of materials, Pomeranz examines the economic development of major countries in Europe and Asia in the old world and their core regions, and explores a series of key issues that affect the formation of the modern world economy: Why did England not become Jiangnan? Why have China and Europe taken different paths? According to Pomeranz, in 1750, the economic core areas of England and China were very similar in terms of life expectancy, agricultural product market, labor system, land use, capital accumulation and technology. The ecological environment in the core areas of China and Japan was no worse than that of Western Europe. Throughout the 18th century, the core areas of the Old World faced local shortages of land-intensive products. The East and the West are on generally similar economic development paths, and the West has no obvious advantage.
What Readers Think
Rating
Community(0)
Official(4)Scraped 4d ago
The reason why the economy and life in the past were not as good as they are now may also be due to the shortage of livestock. The land has always been the same, but the number of livestock has been increasing.
This book is a representative work that explores why China and Europe took different paths in modern times.
As a researcher of European and American history, the author has escaped the "Eurocentrism" to a certain extent by comparing Western Europe and East Asia, which is commendable. A major feature of this book is the introduction of statistics into historical research, letting data speak for itself, enhancing the credibility and scientificity of the conclusions, and providing a new method for historical research. The possible limitation of this book is that the reason why China did not follow the same development path as Western Europe in modern times and missed the historical opportunities of capitalism and the industrial revolution. Although historians from all walks of life have different opinions, it must be related to its own traditional culture. However, the book does not write much and does not analyze enough. This may be related to the fact that the author is not Chinese after all, and his understanding of Chinese culture is not deep enough.
Agriculture has always been very important to a country. After all, people always have to eat, and food is also very important, so the development of agriculture has always been our pursuit.
Whether before or now, transportation issues have always been of concern to people. As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, build roads first. This shows the importance of transportation roads.
Rating
Community(0)
Official(4)Scraped 4d ago
The reason why the economy and life in the past were not as good as they are now may also be due to the shortage of livestock. The land has always been the same, but the number of livestock has been increasing.
This book is a representative work that explores why China and Europe took different paths in modern times.
As a researcher of European and American history, the author has escaped the "Eurocentrism" to a certain extent by comparing Western Europe and East Asia, which is commendable. A major feature of this book is the introduction of statistics into historical research, letting data speak for itself, enhancing the credibility and scientificity of the conclusions, and providing a new method for historical research. The possible limitation of this book is that the reason why China did not follow the same development path as Western Europe in modern times and missed the historical opportunities of capitalism and the industrial revolution. Although historians from all walks of life have different opinions, it must be related to its own traditional culture. However, the book does not write much and does not analyze enough. This may be related to the fact that the author is not Chinese after all, and his understanding of Chinese culture is not deep enough.
Agriculture has always been very important to a country. After all, people always have to eat, and food is also very important, so the development of agriculture has always been our pursuit.
Whether before or now, transportation issues have always been of concern to people. As the saying goes, if you want to get rich, build roads first. This shows the importance of transportation roads.
