First Globalization: The Eurasian Exchange, 1500-1800

Geoffrey Gunn gives us a grand tour of three centuries of civilizational exchanges between Asia and Europe that have shaped the world we live in. First Globalization is a valuable corrective to the simplistic notion of globalization as Westernization. — Nayan Chanda, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization

A masterpiece. . . . Original, superbly edited, readable. ― Lettre De L’afrase

This ambitious work examines the interaction of Europe with Asia. . . . [A] useful global study from a non-ethnocentric basis. ― CHOICE

Fills a gap in the field of cultural history. . . . Few writers have so systematically explored the diverse aspects of globalization. Nine richly illustrated chapters meticulously recall the flows of knowledge, languages, images, technologies, and beliefs, linking Europe and Asia. . . . Gunn draws inspiration from a large number of original sources . . . to draw a highly vivid picture of the first encounters. — François Gipouloux ― Chinese Cross Currents

Gunn’s book is a fresh look at the ways in which cultural interactions across Eurasia constituted the aptly named First Globalization. ― Pacific Historical Review

This volume is a major contribution to the literature on cross-cultural interactions in maritime Asia during the Age of Discovery. It offers a nuanced look at Europe’s attempt to make sense out of Asia and to a lesser degree Asia’s attempt to make sense of these new arrivals and at the coagulation of a unified Eurasian world. ― Itinerario

This is a very important collection of essays for specialists of maritime Asia, who will find it invaluable to their work. ― International Journal of Maritime History

Gunn succeeds in debunking the myth that the first globalization was nothing other than westernization [A]n excellent narrative of cultural geography. ― H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online

The scope of this book is breathtaking, and the contents almost consistently fascinating. ― Journal of Contemporary Asia

. . . a significant contribution to current debates about the nature and form of globalization today. ― South Asia Research