This clearly written and engrossing book presents a global narrative of the origins of the modern world from 1400 to the present unlike most studies which assume that the rise of the west is the story of the coming of the modern world this history drawing upon new scholarship on asia africa and the new world and upon the maturing field of environmental history constructs a story . The origins of the modern world a global and environmental narrative from the fifteenth to the twenty first century world social change by robert b marks 2015 02 12 robert b marks books amazonca. Now in a new edition that brings the saga of the modern world to the present in an environmental context the book considers how and why the united states emerged as a world power in the twentieth century and became the sole superpower by the twenty first century and why the changed relationship of humans to the environmental likely will be the hallmark of the modern era the anthopocene . The origins of the modern world a global and ecological narrative from the fifteenth to the twenty first century by robert b marks 2006 07 27 books amazonca. The origins of the modern world a global and ecological narrative from the fifteenth to the twenty first century g reference information and interdisciplinary subjects series world social change issn 2690 9324 author robert marks edition illustrated revised publisher rowman littlefield publishers 2007 isbn 0742554198