A comparative history of Chinese and Western Civilization from the dawn of agriculture to the dawn of modernity, China and the West to 1600 explores the factors that led to the divergent evolution of two major world cultures, and how that development laid the groundwork for their role on the global stage today. Steven Wallech presents an engaging narrative that explores a comparative history of the former Roman Empire and the Chinese Han dynasty, two cultures that share remarkable similarity in physical, geographical, and demographic features. China and the West to 1600 probes at the question of how the West, with the failure of its uniting empire, rapidly rose to power in the modern era; while China, which maintained one of the most successful traditional cultures in history, was slower to embrace modernization. Wallech explores these themes by tracing connections between cultures and over time, through topics as diverse as agriculture, philosophy and religion, and the threat of invasion and warfare. Featuring a timeline, maps, and a complete index, this inventive comparative history is suitable for students of World History and Western Civilization as well as general readers.