Books by J. R. (Georgetown University) McNeill

"One of those rare books that's both sweeping and specific, scholarly and readable...What makes the book stand out is its wealth of historical detail." -Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker

Why did the first civilizations emerge when and where they did? How did Islam become a unifying force in the world of its birth? What enabled the West to project its goods and power around the world from the fifteenth century on? Why was agriculture invented seven times and the steam engine just once?