This clearly written and engrossing book presents a global narrative of the origins of the modern world from 1400 to the present. Unlike most studies, which assume that the “rise of the West” is the story of the coming of the modern world, this history, drawing upon new scholarship on Asia, Africa, and the New World and upon the maturing field of environmental history, constructs a story in which those parts of the world play major roles, including their impacts on the environment. Robert B. Marks defines the modern world as one marked by industry, the nation state, interstate warfare, a large and growing gap between the wealthiest and poorest parts of the world, increasing inequality within the wealthiest industrialized countries, and an escape from the environmental constraints of the “biological old regime.” He explains its origins by emphasizing contingencies (such as the conquest of the New World); the broad comparability of the most advanced regions in China, India, and Europe; the reasons why England was able to escape from common ecological constraints facing all of those regions by the end of the eighteenth century; a conjuncture of human and natural forces that solidified a gap between the industrialized and non-industrialized parts of the world; the mounting environmental crisis that defines the modern world; and the ways in which the forces of globalization stress the economic and political underpinnings of the modern world.

Now in a new edition that brings the saga of the modern world to the present in an environmental context, the book considers how and why the United States emerged as a world power in the twentieth century and became the sole superpower by the twenty-first century, and why the changed relationship of humans to the environmental likely will be the hallmark of the modern era—the Anthopocene. Once again arguing that the US rise to global hegemon was contingent, not inevitable, Marks also points to the resurgence of Asia and the vastly changed relationship of humans to the environment that may in the long run overshadow any political and economic milestones of the past hundred years.

A Companion Website at https://textbooks.rowman.com/marks4e offers a student study guide that provides a concise summary, main points, key terms, discussion questions, map exercises, and recommended websites. It also offers a range of teaching materials, including a test bank and a list of suggested primary and secondary readings.

Robert B. Marks is professor emeritus of history and environmental studies at Whittier College. His books include China: Its Environment and History. He is the recipient of Whittier College’s Harry W. Nerhood Teaching Excellence Award.

List of Figures and Maps
Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Rise of the West?
The Rise of the West
Eurocentrism
Stories and Historical Narratives
The Elements of an Environmentally Grounded Non-Eurocentric Narrative
Chapter One: The Material and Trading Worlds, circa 1400
The Biological Old Regime
The World and Its Trading System circa 1400
The Black Death: A Mid-Fourteenth-Century Conjuncture
Conclusion: The Biological Old Regime
Chapter Two: Starting with China
China
India and the Indian Ocean
Dar al-Islam, “The Abode of Islam”
Africa
Europe and the Gunpowder Epic
Conclusion
Chapter Three: Empires, States, and the New World, 1500–1775
Empire Builders and Conquerors
The Conquest of the Americas and the Spanish Empire
The New World Economy
Human Migration and the Early Modern World
The Global Crisis of the Seventeenth Century and the European State System
Chapter Four: The Industrial Revolution and Its Consequences, 1750–1850
Cotton Textiles
New Sources of Energy and Power
Coal, Iron, and Steam
Tea, Silver, Opium, Iron, and Steam
Conclusion: Into the Anthropocene
Chapter Five: The Gap
Opium and Global Capitalism
Industrialization Elsewhere
New Dynamics in the Industrial World
Nations and Nationalism
The Scrambles for Africa and China
El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World
Social Darwinism and Self-Congratulatory Eurocentrism
Conclusion
Chapter Six: The Great Departure
Introduction to the Twentieth Century and Beyond
Part I: Nitrogen, Wars, and the First Deglobalization, 1900–1945
Part II: The Post–World War II and Cold War Worlds, 1945–91
Part III: Globalization and Its Opponents, 1991–Present
Part IV: The Great Departure: Into the Anthropocene
Conclusion
Conclusion: Changes, Continuities, and the Shape of the Future
The Story Summarized
Globalization
Into the Future
Notes
Index
About the Author

In accessible prose, Robert Marks distills world history of the past six centuries to its essence. Truly global in scope, and fully attentive to environmental contexts, this book is ideal for the classroom: it will provoke both thought and discussion—and occasional disagreement.
— John R. McNeill, Georgetown University

This new edition accentuates the book’s strengths while remaining compact, highly readable, and easy to connect with contemporary concerns. Fair-minded but not bland, it has the potential to spark classroom discussion that conventional textbooks rarely have, while providing a helpful basic narrative around which to organize an appealing world history class.
— Kenneth Pomeranz, University of Chicago

Splendid, fresh, forceful, and efficient. Marks has a clear focus on the Eurocentrism of most of the textbooks on world history, and he has developed an effective, solidly grounded strategy to counter the problem. The ideas are challenging, and the prose is readable and engaging. Ideal for introductory surveys of world history.
— Edward L. Farmer, University of Minnesota

Always the favorite when it comes to incisive world history agenda-setting, The Origins of the Modern World has a fully developed overview, one that is big on humans and the history of the environment and encourages critical thinking on a global scale.
— Edmund Burke III, University of California at Santa Cruz

Terrific! Its far and away the best of its type Ive found in over thirty years of teaching. Its clear, succinct, and yet wonderfully comprehensive. It brings together all the current thinking in world history in about as nice a package as can be imagined.
— Paul Solon, Macalester College

I love this book—and more important, students do as well. Nothing beats it for putting global perspectives on the table in a readable and intelligent way.
— Thomas Saylor, Concordia University

By far the best of the current world history books on the market. Its main strengths lie in its non-Eurocentric viewpoint, its clear narrative, and its brevity. I would (and have) unreservedly recommended the book to colleagues teaching in the field as well as to others seeking a quick introduction to the history of the world.
— Sarah Kovner, University of Florida

My students truly enjoyed reading The Origins of the Modern World, which I used as a text for my Introduction to Global Studies course. They found the book easy to digest despite the complexities inherent in dealing with such a large span of world history. Thank you for making my task as an instructor that much easier and more enjoyable!
— William Zang, UNC Greensboro