The Modern World System I

by Immanuel Wallerstein

The book is a classic because it looks at the larger question as to why modern capitalism that conquered the world arose from this Asian archipelago sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean ­– Europe. Furthermore, Wallerstein looks at the reasons why in this Europe, it was mainly Britain and the Low Countries that became the major bulwarks of this immensely powerful social, economic and political development that was soon to conquer much of the world. In answering this question, Wallerstein posits a framework in which he categorises countries as the core of this development –Britain and the Low Countries – its semiperipheries and lastly its peripheries.