The Colonizer's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History
Blaut (Univ. of Illinois) challenges the notion of "Eurocentric diffusionism": the pervasive presumption that superior Western culture has naturally flowed outward, bringing modernization to the rest of the world. In four chapters the author argues in detail that the historical propositions supporting European preeminence are myths. The conquest of the New World was simply the result of greater maritime accessibility to America, and the rise of Europe, after 1492, was due to the immense wealth of subsequent colonial accumulation. This is a highly analytical, provocative, and scholarly work. While not always convincing in certain aspects, it belongs in libraries serving readers interested in a revisionist view of world history.- William F. Young, SUNY at Albany Lib.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.