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The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (Chicago, 1963 [1991]) is a popular work by Canadian historian William H. McNeill. It won the National Book Award for history in 1964

The Rise of the West explores human history in terms of the effect of different world civilizations on one another. McNeill assumes "decent familiarity with Western history," which allows describing "underrated" matters. The footnotes teem with specialized studies that support the bold strokes in the text. Development is thematic within periods rather than chronological. The book is in three parts of approximately equal length.

Part I begins with evolutionary prehistory and the breakthrough to civilization in Mesopotamia. This is followed by the era of Middle Eastern dominance and the formulation of peripheral civilizations in India, Greece, and China to 500 B.C.

Part II discusses the Eurasian cultural balance to 1500 A.D., including the expansion of Hellenism, the closure of the Eurasian ecumene, the development of major religions, the barbarian onslaught, resurgence of the Middle East, and the Steppe conquerors.

Part III examines the era of Western dominance. From 1500 to 1750 this is represented by the challenge of western Europe to the world in a period of exploration and colonization and the changing balance of the ecumene in the Moslem world, the Far East, and Africa. The book describes the "tottering balance" of older orders within Europe, European expansion and acculturation in outliers, including the Americas. The rise of the West on a cosmopolitan scale from 1850 to 1950 is described as to continued territorial expansion, industrialism, the democratic revolution, and intellectual aspects. As elsewhere throughout the book, there is a parallel account of developments in Asia and Africa.

The many drawings, maps, charts, and plates that complement the text provide a coherent portrait of the societies described.

The book had a major impact on historical analysis, challenging the view of civilizations as independent entities subect to rise and fall, such as developed by Arnold J. Toynbee and Oswald Spengler.

The rise of the West became a synonym for historical processes in Europe in the last 500 years and its effects on other civilizations. In this book, however, a unifying theme is interrelation and cultural diffusion from its Neolithic beginnings to the present.

• William H. McNeill (1963 [1991]). The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community [With a Retrospective Essay], University of Chicago Press.

Joseph Needham, cited by McNeill, also considered reasons for the rise of the West while researching Chinese history and scientific and engineering achievements.

• Publisher's specs, description, and Contents. The Index of Proper Names in the book is 20 pp.