How did the modern dynamic economy, filled with wealth and opportunity, come about?

In his new book, The Wealth Explosion: The Nature and Origins of Modernity, Stephen Davies examines the surprising, fundamental, and continuing processes of innovation and transformation that have produced the world we live in today.

Exploring the academic literature and competing theories, he seeks to answer three questions of fundamental importance to any economist or historian: How and why is the world different today than that faced by our ancestors? What explains why this transformation began in northwestern Europe about 240 years ago? And, given this, can the modern dynamic economy endure?