Attempts to elucidate the sociological factors in 19th century history

Review essay on The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century by Jürgen Osterhammel

History books tend to move between narrative and analysis, or put simply, a story vs. an interpretation of the forces and trends behind events. The narrative stresses the role and impact of individuals, while the analysis looks to abstractions and ideals. Osterhammel’s book skews as far to the analytic side as may be possible, in a sense it is a sociolo…