Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

  • Apple
  • Android
  • Windows Phone
  • Android

To get the free app, enter your email address or mobile phone number.
Download to your computer
Kindle Cloud Reader

The Uniqueness of Western Civilization (Studies in Critical Social Sciences (Brill Academic)) Reprint Edition

by
Ricardo Duchesne (Author)
› Visit Amazon's Ricardo Duchesne Page
Find all the books, read about the author, and more.
See search results for this author
Are you an author? Learn about Author Central
Ricardo Duchesne (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars 10 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-9004232761
ISBN-10: 9004232761
Why is ISBN important?
ISBN
This bar-code number lets you verify that you're getting exactly the right version or edition of a book. The 13-digit and 10-digit formats both work.
Scan an ISBN with your phone
Use the Amazon App to scan ISBNs and compare prices.
Sell yours for a Gift Card
We'll buy it for $23.55
Learn More
Trade in now
Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Sorry, there was a problem.

There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Please try again.

Sorry, there was a problem.

List unavailable.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest
Buy used On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$51.13 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
Buy new On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
$61.00 On clicking this link, a new layer will be open
More Buying Choices
20 New from $49.65 12 Used from $51.13
32 used & new from $49.65
See All Buying Options
Free Two-Day Shipping for College Students with Amazon Student Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Save Up to 90% on Textbooks Textbooks
$61.00 FREE Shipping. Only 2 left in stock (more on the way). Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
Back
  1. How the West Won: The Neglected Story of the Triumph of Modernity
    Rodney Stark
    4.6 out of 5 stars 142
    Hardcover
  2. The Culture of Critique: An Evolutionary Analysis of Jewish Involvement in Twentieth-Century Intellectual and Political Movements
    Kevin MacDonald
    4.4 out of 5 stars 115
    Paperback
    $26.41 Prime
  3. The Perils of Diversity: Immigration and Human Nature (Radix: A Series That Examines the Intersection of Culture, G)
    Byron M. Roth
    4.4 out of 5 stars 10
    Perfect Paperback
    $32.00 Prime
  4. The Real Right Returns
    Daniel Friberg
    4.4 out of 5 stars 7
    Paperback
    $14.50 Prime
  5. The Hour of Decision: Germany and World-Historical Evolution
    Oswald Spengler
    4.2 out of 5 stars 4
    Paperback
    $27.50 Prime
  6. Sexual Utopia in Power
    F. Roger Devlin
    4.6 out of 5 stars 16
    Paperback
    $20.00 Prime
Next
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Product Details

  • Series: Studies in Critical Social Sciences (Brill Academic)
  • Paperback: 527 pages
  • Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers; Reprint edition (August 28, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9004232761
  • ISBN-13: 978-9004232761
  • Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsWorld Historians, Read this Book!
By Jonathan Burack on August 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover
I can't predict that this book will be a classic for years to come, but I do think it should be. In recent decades, the field of world history has been relentless in its downgrading of the idea of Western uniqueness in pursuit of a supposed multicultural purity of point of view. In this book, Ricardo Duchesne calls into question much of the key scholarly research seeking to justify this anti-Eurocentric spirit, he also makes it clear just how much we are losing by denying the unique heritage of our Western cultural and intellectual journey. And the "we" in this case is not only the West itself, but all of humanity.

In the book's first half, Duchesne undertakes a vigorous and exhaustive interrogation of the entire gamut of academic world history's current pace-setters (Andre Gunder Frank; Immanuel Wallerstein and world systems theories: Pomeranz-Wong-Goldstone et all on the Great Divergence; Patrick Manning on Big History; Felipe Fernandez-Armesto; John Hobson on the East's influence on the West; Jack Goody, etc.). It is a tour de force challenge to the prevailing academic paradigm in this field. It deals specifically and rigorously with the work of the above mentioned scholars and incorporates and summarizes a huge amount of the research of many others who in various ways challenge the paradigm - David Landes, Joel Mokyr, Aaron Maddison, Joseph Bryant, Margaret Jacobs, Peer Vries (partially), Edward Grant, Toby Huff, Harold Berman, Victor David Hanson, and a number of others.

Duchesne explores a great many facets of the debate among these scholars, but I will mention just one: the arguments about the "Great Divergence," of the West, or England, from China.Read more ›
3 Comments 60 of 63 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsA Unique View of World History
By Martin Hewson on September 6, 2011
Format: Hardcover
I found out about this book from the New Books in History podcast, hesitated at the steep price, but was very glad I bought it.

Since the 1990s, a potent revisionist movement has been trying to install a new interpretation of world history. Spearheaded by well-known academics from numerous fields (such as the late Andre Gunder Frank, Jack Goody, Ken Pomeranz, John Hobson, Jack Goldstone, and Ian Morris), the revisionists claim that prior views of the shape of world history are almost all "Eurocentric." They strongly disapprove of anyone who might suggest that the West is exceptional or that it blazed a special path in history. They hold that the "rise of the West" to extraordinary wealth and power was late, lucky, and is probably temporary. Duchesne dubs this movement "multicultural history." Because it declares the parity of all cultures and civilizations, its bias is to level down the West by pointing to instances of Western inferiority and backwardness, and by downplaying the disproportionate achievements of the West.

But now Duchesne's profound and wide-ranging "Uniqueness of Western Civilization" is leading a counter-critique of the revisionist movement. Duchesne outlines the intellectual context out of which this version of revisionism emerges; provides a detailed and devastating critique of the specific claims of the revisionists, particularly concerning early modern Chinese and European economic and scientific development; and offers a bold new explanation of how and why the path of the West diverged so markedly from that of "the rest." Each of these three elements is in itself a work of interest.

So, what makes the West unique?Read more ›
1 Comment 35 of 36 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse
5.0 out of 5 starsA scholarly review of the study and interpretation of Western Civilization and History
By Jonathan Huntoon on June 27, 2011
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Richard Duchesne's book examines (the history of) the history of Western Civilization. He examines the economists', the historians', and the philosophers' understanding and arguments throughout this scholarship. Duchesne also examines the arguments made by each scholar-- how they present their case that either the 'West' is dominant or not, has always been dominant or not, and whether their is something unique about Western culture, history or something else that has or has not engendered the Western world we live in today. Duchesne answers in the affirmative in all these cases.

The book is a good overview of Western history as well, and I have found the references to be quite intriguing. It is obvious that a ton of research has gone into this project, and we are rewarded with this synthesis. I have since purchased some of the books he has examined and am enjoying these reads as well. The history of the philosophy on Western civilization is most rewarding, as he contextualizes the writings of Hegel, Weber, Spengler, Nietzsche, and others.

The book is bound well and the paper is good too. The hardcover makes the book a lasting one.

My inspiration for buying the book were two things: my recent travel to China, and the listening of this podcast on the New Books in history website: [...] The podcast will give you a good feel for the tone of the book.

One last note, this is a scholarly book. It is filled with references, citations, etc. This may be an issue for non-scholar types, but I made it through.

Bottom line: get it if you're interested in why the world is the way it is today instead of something else. That's my take anyway.
4 Comments 29 of 31 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
Thank you for your feedback.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Report abuse

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsthe foundations of the world

When you type this guys name on Google, the auto-fill thing writes 'RACIST' for you. But the guy is from Portugal, with a heavy foreign accent, but he still comes up on Google as a... Read more

Published 20 months ago by Moises Halifax
2.0 out of 5 starsVery Academic A University type text

This is a treatise of an academic mind arguing with other academic theories . Unless you have read all the other books pertaining to the West (and those undermining it) , then you... Read more

Published 23 months ago by G Whiteman
5.0 out of 5 starsAn honest study of the West.

Having escaped dogmatism, Duchesne has built a solid foundation for the uniqueness of the West. His honest outlook does not aim to place the West in a negative or positive... Read more

Published on September 17, 2013 by JMR
5.0 out of 5 starsThorough and captivating

Read this if you love history and wonder what made the west different from, and resoundingly more productive of art and freedom and philosophy and material wealth than, other... Read more

Published on August 4, 2013 by Will Johnston
5.0 out of 5 starsDuschene

This is a fascinating history book. Each section reveals something I did not know. I highly recommend this book for all history buffs.

Published on May 18, 2013 by Ms. Linda Miilu
5.0 out of 5 starsThis is a unique book...

Duchesne proposes that Euro-man's daring, high-risk behavior is fundamental to understanding the uniqueness of the West. Read more

Published on September 29, 2011 by Michael Santomauro
5.0 out of 5 starsThe West's Moment

The several existing favorable reviews on Amazon have my endorsement, and there is no need to repeat all that has been said about Duchesne's achievement, which required a huge... Read more

Published on August 27, 2011 by Norman Fiering

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more
The Uniqueness of Western Civilization (Studies in Critical Social Sciences (Brill Academic))
This item: The Uniqueness of Western Civilization (Studies in Critical Social Sciences (Brill Academic))
Price: $61.00
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
Set up a giveaway

There's a problem loading this menu right now.

Learn more about Amazon Prime.