“The Rise of the West” is one of the most significant works of the famous modern American historian William McNeil. The book examines world history as a single whole and attempts to interpret it on the basis of the concept of interpenetration of cultures. McNeil conducted research on the development of social and cultural traditions, but he focused particularly on the processes by which various skills and technologies spread from one culture or people to another, leading to changes in power structures and social organization. At the same time, contacts between different cultural traditions were not always unequivocally positive for all participants in this process, since it often took place in the context of military clashes or conquests.

CONTENTS: Foreword by the scientific editor Why is this book necessary to read now? “The Ascent” West" twenty-five years laterThe era of cultural dominance of the Middle East (before 500 BC)In the beginningBreakthrough to civilization in MesopotamiaDiffusion of civilization: the first phaseThe emergence of cosmopolitan civilization in the Middle East in 1700-500. BC Formation of peripheral civilizations in India, Greece and China in 1700-500. BC Eurasian cultural equilibrium (500 BC - 1500 AD) Hellenistic expansion in 500-146 AD BC. Completion of the formation of the Eurasian ecumene in 500 BC. - 200 AD Onslaught of barbarians and the response of civilizations in 200-600 AD. AD Introducing barbarians to civilizationChanging the military and political institutions of civilization in Western EurasiaCultural changes in Persia and RomeRenaissance of the Middle East in 600-1000 AD Steppe conquerors and the European Far West in 1000-1500 The era of Western dominance from 1500 to the present The challenge of the Far West to the world in 1500-1700 The Iberian Crusade and the response of the Muslim world The rise of Russia and its consequences for Islam Sunni conflict and Shiites and its consequences for IslamHindu India and Buddhist Southeast AsiaChristians in Muslim countriesJews in Muslim countriesLand exploration, trade and rivalry of nationsPlantations and the conscious transformation of tropical and subtropical economiesExpansion of European settlementsPolitical and social compromisesElements of instability of the Ancien RegimeRise of the West: cosmopolitanism on a global scale in 1850 -1950 First or British stage Second or German-American stage (before 1917) Index of personal names and place names List of illustrations