Why are some parts of the world so rich and others so poor? Why did the Industrial Revolution--and the unprecedented economic growth that came with it--occur in eighteenth-century England, and not at some other time, or in some other place? Why didn't industrialization make the whole world...

Introduction : the sixteen-page economic history of the world -- The logic of the Malthusian economy -- Material living standards -- Fertility -- Life expectancy -- Malthus and Darwin : survival of the richest -- Technological advance -- Institutions and growth -- The emergence of modern man --...