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God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World (Vintage)

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Author: Walter Russell Mead
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book

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Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

19 reviews
Sales Rank: 26628

Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.9

ISBN: 0375713735
Dewey Decimal Number: 327
EAN: 9780375713736
ASIN: 0375713735

Publication Date: October 14, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Also Available In:

•	Hardcover - God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World
•	Kindle Edition - God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
A stunningly insightful account of the global political and economic system, sustained first by Britain and now by America, that has created the modern world.

The key to the two countries' predominance, Mead argues, lies in the individualistic ideology inherent in the Anglo-American religion. Over the years Britain and America's liberal democratic system has been repeatedly challeged—by Catholic Spain and Louis XIV, the Nazis, communists, and Al Qaeda—and for the most part, it has prevailed. But the current conflicts in the Middle East threaten to change that record unless we foster a deeper understanding of the conflicts between the liberal world system and its foes.

Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

A true 5-star read! November 3, 2008
Anglo-Americans have been on the winning side in every international conflict since the Glorious Revolution in 1688. That is an astounding record covering some ten major conflicts over 300 years, although the American Revolution was a given. According to Mead, these outcomes were not just the result of an incredible streak of good luck, but due to the inherent characteristics of Anglo-Americans and the manner that they helped to mold their respective foreign policies.

Mead, in this erudite yet controversial treatise, strongly purports that the financial infrastructure and the individualistic ideology of Christianity that Anglo-American civilization came to embody were driving forces that allowed Britain, and later America, to win wars and transform the political and economic landscape of the world. Furthermore, he suggests that this commercial and religious zeal, along with the English language, democratic political institutions, and naval power were critical elements in its success.

One might be tempted to reject his proposals out-of-hand as the prattling of an ethnocentric and Christian-chauvinistic ideologue, but the wealth of his knowledge and the vigor of his analysis suggest he cannot so readily be dismissed. In addition, he strongly chides the United States for giving little thought to the meaning of the power it has accumulated and some very poor choices of its use as well. He specifically states that Islam and Islamic countries are far from inherently incompatible with an Anglo-American worldview. He singles out for criticism both George Bush and Tony Blair for an overly moralistic foreign policy and the possible dire consequences of such a position.

Despite the very seriousness of the topics dealt with by Mead, his style of writing is both accessible and entertaining, with many allusions to literary works from Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, and Lewis Carroll to the headier works of philosophers Henri Bergson and Karl Popper.

Whether one buys all of Mead's tenets or not, his proposal is sure to evoke considerable thought, discussion, and reflection on what has made Britain - and then the United States - world powers, and what needs to be done to maintain that hierarchy.

Armchair Interviews says: A 5-star read of current public affairs importance.

5 out of 5 stars

Hitting the bull's eye October 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Dr. Russel Meade's God and Gold must add to the glory of the author's other illustrious works. His account of Anglo-American history is simply electrifying and bang on target. The dominance of the Western Civilization spearheaded by Britain and America for several centuries is unraveling now and we are faced with a stuation that prevailed at the end of the first millennium.

Indeed it is necessary to go to the root in order to accurately discover the problems and ills of the successive eras. This Dr. meade has done excellently in this book.This book is a worthy successor of Huntington's ideas since the Western Civilization is now being challenged by other civilizations.

It would have been better if Dr. Meade delved further into the political aspect of this Anglo-American sojourn. Nevertheless full marks to the author's efforts and every reader will find something new and absorbing in this book. I think this is a true consummation of his massive intellectual knowledge.

Gautam Maitra

Author of 'Tracing the Eagle's Orbit: Illuminating Insights into Major US Foreign Policies since Independence'.

5 out of 5 stars

Change is what makes America great September 19, 2008
"Change" is why Great Britain and now the United States became the dominant economic, military and social leaders for the past century, writes Mead in this superb history.

It's a valid lesson in this era of fundamentalist Christians, Moslems, Wall Street analysts, laissez fairists and other terrorists who assume they have discovered the perfect way of life, liberty, happiness and easy profits for all true believers. In brief, he doesn't suggest imposing change for the sake of change; he emphasizes the ability to change as conditions change and because our knowledge grows over time.

The delightful element is Mead's ability to use analogies, quotes and examples from sources as disparate as Lewis Carroll to John Milton to Thomas Cranmer and Reinhold Niebuhr and ranging from The Walrus and the Carpenter to Original Sin to Greed to the Invisible Hand and the Whig narrative. It's a relevant romp through history based on the premise that even conservatives can change -- even if slowly.

The writing is a delight, the history is masterful.

He succinctly rejects the neo-conservative follies who argue America is in moral, military, economic and spiritual decline; instead of the usual focus on guns, butter and Bibles. Mead argues America's strength is its ability to handle change when necessary.

Such intangibles are the foundation of a great society. The ability to change and yet retain impeccable financial integrity is a remarkable duality. It's why the bankers' bailouts are vital; not to prop up bozos, but to retain the integrity of the financial system.

Now, for the quibbles of a quidnunc: As brilliant as Mead is in his analysis, he overlooks an equally relevant factor -- the refusal to quit, to give up, to surrender.

"For three years, Hitler beat Britain and its allies everywhere he faced them . . ." Mead states, overlooking Hitler's failures to win the Battle of Britain, or to successfully blockade Britain or demoralize the people by terror bombing. It was not Churchill who stood alone against Hitler; it was 60 million Brits who refused to be bullied.

This refusal to give up is the quality that defeated Napoleon, beat the British in the U.S. War of Independence and Americans in Vietnam. Many countries share it in military terms; but, the British and Americans have the same stubborn determination in most things -- not just military -- they set out to accomplish. The Panama Canal was built by determination as much as by skill, talent and intrigue.

The unique American quality is often a persistence in demanding "new and improved" change, plus giving freedom to dissenters who challenge anything, everything and everyone in society. Every intelligent person can recognize a need for change; but, two further qualities are essential -- tolerating and even honouring those who advocate it, and the wisdom to know what, when and how to implement it.

All in all, a superb account of how we got to where we are today and what we need to maintain leadership.

5 out of 5 stars

Why Doesn't The World Understand Us? April 12, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

[Note; this is an abridged version of my complete Review which appears on the Claremont Institute website, on July 17, 2008]

In his new book, 'God and Gold', foreign affairs expert Walter Russell Mead argues that modern world history can be understood as the global application of a system of economics, religion, and culture that has been unilaterally developed and directed by the English-speaking peoples. From the time of Oliver Cromwell to the present, the British and the Americans, either individually or together, have won every major war, and have established a commercial and military dominance that remains the foundation of the modern world. "It is perhaps bad manners to say so," Mead acknowledges, "but that does not make it less true."
Within this context, Mead addresses questions which he believes can help us better understand and handle the problems and dangers that confront America today. As he goes through his discussion of these questions, the strengths of the book include his authoritative mastery of historical, political, and economic facts, which he uses liberally to support his argument, and his ability to weave together cultural, religious, economic, and political strands of history into a fascinating, well-written, and coherent synthesis that explains a great deal. The weaknesses of the book include a sometimes-overbearing repetitiveness of key points, and in the end a rather unsatisfying response to the major contemporary criticisms of Anglo-American culture. Nonetheless, the book is a very worthwhile read, both for its historic sweep, and most importantly for Mead's lucid and useful suggestions regarding the future of American foreign policy.

4 out of 5 stars

An insight and thought provoking theory about the United States April 6, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Before I read this book, I often wondered why Americans, regardless of the war, always see ourselves as the good guys. This book explains that and also why and how, first Great Britain, then the United States became the dominant global power that it is today in the modern world.
I never realized how important capitalism was to the forming of not only the United States but also the modern world. This book also explains, in great detail, why are there has always been nations, i.e., the bad guys, that have opposed the spread of the ways of the West, like capitalism, liberal democracy, freedom of religion, and things like that.
I would highly recommended this book to anyone who wants to understand not only the effect of capitalism in the world history but also why capitalism transformed the world into the one that it is today.

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