The Rise of the West

"Rise of the West" redirects here. For the process of the rise of the Western world, see Great Divergence.
The Rise of the West
Cover of the first edition
AuthorWilliam Hardy McNeill
LanguageEnglish
SubjectWorld history
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press
Publication date
1963
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)

The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community is a book by University of Chicago historian William H. McNeill, first published in 1963 and enlarged with a retrospective preface in 1991.[1] It explores world history in terms of the effect different old world civilizations had on one another, and especially the deep influence of Western civilization on the rest of the world in the past 500 years. He argues that societal contact with foreign civilizations is the primary force in driving historical change. In 1964 it won the National Book Award in History and Biography.[2]

  1. ^ McNeill, William H. (1990). ""The Rise of the West" after Twenty-Five Years". Journal of World History. 1 (1): 1–21. ISSN 1045-6007.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference nba1964 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).