This book is a sweeping world history, with a guiding theme: that culture determines national success. By historian David Landes, it is the work of an elder scholar reflecting on the vastness of what he knows. Landes references a stunning breadth of primary and secondary sources, with an eye for the clever aside and revealing yet obscure anecdote.

It also has the weaknesses of the genre. Why China didn’t industrialize is explained with an arbitrary list of disparate reasons rather than a coherent argument. Claims of competing scholars are frequently dismissed with impatience rather than insight. It is also very long – though often a good read.