In Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond made a surprising yet instantly plausible argument about long-term development. The west grew rich and the rest did not because of geography. Thanks to where they were, Europe and its North American offshoots had plants and animals that were easy to domesticate, a low burden of disease, and natural resources that supported industrialisation. The Industrial Revolution began in England and spread to continental Europe and the United States because of luck.

A new book, to be published next month, argues that Mr Diamond got it all wrong. Gregory Clark’s A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World* is fully as absorbing, as memorable and as well written as Mr Diamond’s remarkable bestseller. It deserves to be as widely read.