The birth of the modern world, 1780-1914 Book

The last 30 or 40 years resemble the late 19th Century in that barriers to trade and movements of people and capital have diminished because of technological change and political initiatives by global powers. With this similarity in mind, C.A. Bayly's The Birth of the Modern World makes for fascinating reading. In this wide-reaching history of impressive geographical and theoretical scope, Bayly synthesizes the latest research on such topics as the causes of the industrial revolution and the rise of nationalism, weighing in authoritatively with cross-cultural comparisons to support his arguments.

One of the most interesting themes of the book was how elite classes in many parts of the world managed to use changes in technology and social organization to refashion new hierarchies, rather than succumbing to the forces of technological and economic change that many contemporaries expected to revolutionize the world. The pundits who tell us that technological change and market competition are "flattening" the world and threatening the global distribution of wealth and power would do well to consider how this theme applies to the process of globalization today. While innovations in areas like social media may have made it easier for social movements to coordinate resistance, technological change has also reduced the cost of surveillance, coercion, and power projection in important ways - then as now.

As previous readers have said, this book is somewhat dense. If you aren't familiar with some of the debates that Bayly addresses, you might find much of this book to be esoteric and boring. But if you're interested in globalization, economic and social history, and international relations, I would definitely recommend it.