Origins of the Modern World
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Book Report
The Origins of the Modern World by Robert B. Marks is a thumbnail version of history from the thirteenth century till about the twentieth century featuring the events, moments, and details which Marks feels helped build the base for the history of today. Throughout the narrative the reader is able to experience the rise of the West and the modern world along with the role that Asia, Africa, and the New World had in building the story of our history.
To understand much of the modern world and how is has come to be one must understand how Western influence became such a strong force in the world economically and socially. The rise of the West or Westernism is define as "both a rationale and storyline" concept according to Marks in which the reader is able to see why the modern world denotes heavily on European ideals and influences. An explanation of this rise can be viewed in many different ways. Many Europeans saw this rise as inevitable due to their "superiority" in the Christian religion (after the conquest of current day Mexico) and later (during the Enlightenment) their Greek heritage was what put them at an advantage over the rest of the world. A further explanation in the rise of Western Culture can span from the spreading of Western ideas during travel and colonization which started in 1492 with the voyage of Columbus to the New World and 1498 with the journey of Vasco da Gamma around the cape of Africa into the Indian ocean and respectively India. According to Marks "Marxist traditions have pointed to colonialism, slavery, and exploitation of the colonies in the Americas and Asia as a primary explanation for the rise in the West." There in Marx saw the secret political agenda in the expansion hidden within not only religion but western ideas as a form of exploitation in these new markets for personal gain of nation and industry...