Book Projects

Why Europe? The Great Divergence and the West's Rise to Global Predominance

Cambridge University Press (expected summer 2026)

Economic growth transformed the world. It freed us from a world where nearly everyone was mired in poverty and half of all children died before reaching adulthood. However, these benefits have not been felt everywhere, or by everyone. In this groundbreaking new account of the divergence between east and west, Philip Hoffman uncovers the ultimate causes of economic growth and why it was that it originated in eighteenth-century Western Europe. He examines the relative impacts of a wide range of economic, political and social factors, from high wages, cheap capital and financial institutions to political fragmentation, porous borders and interstate warfare. Through accessible economic principles and fascinating case studies, he demonstrates why growth began in Britain, why it spread so unevenly elsewhere and why inequality inhibits growth.