The first programme in the series begins in 1420 when Ming China had a credible claim to be the most advanced civilization in the world: 'All Under Heaven'. England on the eve of the Wars of the Roses would have seemed quite primitive by contrast.
Yet the lead that China had established in technology was not to be translated into sustained economic growth. In China a monolithic empire stifled colonial expansion and economic innovation. In Europe political division bred competition.
The question for our own time is whether or not we have lost that competitive edge to a rapidly ascending Asia.
SERIES:
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Series 1 Episode 1 Competition
The first programme in the series begins in 1420 when Ming China had a credible claim to be the most advanced…
- This episode has subtitles available.
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Series 1 Episode 2 Science
In 1683 the Ottoman army laid siege to Vienna, the capital of Europe's most powerful empire. Domination of West by East…
- This episode has subtitles available.
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Series 1 Episode 3 Property
Professor Ferguson asks why North America succeeded while South America for so many centuries lagged behind.
- This episode has subtitles available.
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Series 1 Episode 4 Medicine
Niall Ferguson looks at how late 19th-century advances in modern medicine made it possible to export Western…
- This episode has subtitles available.
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Series 1 Episode 5 Consumerism
Today the world is becoming more homogenous and, with increasingly few exceptions, big-name brands dominate main…
- This episode has subtitles available.
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Series 1 Episode 6 Work
The sixth element that enabled the West to dominate the rest was the work ethic. Max Weber famously linked it to…
- This episode has subtitles available.
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