Civilization: The West and the Rest

Part 1 is at its best when exploring why China, which 500 years ago seemed poised to dominate the world, did not. While China turned inward, England did the opposite, with real consequences that could be seen in the very size of citizens in the two lands. “Trade brought an influx of new nutrients, like potatoes and sugar, while colonization allowed the emigration of surplus people,” Mr. Ferguson says of England. “Over time, the effect was to raise productivity, incomes, nutrition and even height.”

Mr. Ferguson also isn’t afraid to get sassy, as he does in Part 2 when he suggests, half-seriously, that bluejeans brought down the Berlin Wall. That is part of an illuminating discussion of what has happened to fashion worldwide in recent decades: All over the globe traditional dress has been relegated to the closet, pulled out only for ceremonial purposes, while Western-style clothes, especially jeans and T-shirts, have become standard wear. It does not escape Mr. Ferguson’s notice that a consumerism that has everyone wearing the same pants seems more conformist than liberating. In contradiction lies strength, he suggests.