Before European Hegemony

In this important study abu-lughod presents a ground-breaking reinterpretation of global economic evolution arguing that the modern world economy had its roots not in the sixteenth century as is widely supposed but in the thirteenth century economy-aa system far different from the European world system which emerged from it. Using the city as the working br>Unit of analysis before European hegemony provides a new paradigm for understanding the evolution of world systems by tracing the rise of a system that at its peak in the opening decades of the 14th century involved a vast region stretching between Northwest Europe and China. Writing in a clear and lively style abu-lughod explores the reasons for the eventual decay of this system and the rise of European hegemony..