Strange Parallels: Patterns in Eurasian Social Evolution
Peter Turchin
Most professional historians have abandoned the search for general patterns and laws of history, but not Victor Lieberman. Strange Parallels II (SP II), following on SP I, proposes that similar mechanisms governed state building in such different, distant, regions as Southeast Asia, China, Western Europe, Russia. During period covered by Lieberman (c.8001830) trend within these Eurasia was towards increasing political cultural integration. This overall monotonic; it periodically interrupted interregna  periods breakdown territorial fragmentation. However, time unfolded became shorter less disruptive. Remarkably, during second millennium cycles integration disintegration increasingly correlated between widely separated Eurasian regions. Liebermans bold thesis is combined with truly encyclopedic scholarship a breathtaking scope. major achievement comparative world history will take future researchers years to fully digest. review essay aims make first step this direction.
Journal of World-Systems Research