Editor: 

HOU Jianxin(Professor of IEC, TJNU)

Authors:

XU Hao (Professor of School of History, Renmin University of China)

CUI Hongjian (Associate Professor of School of History and Culture, Henan Normal University)

WANG Chaohua (Associate Researcher of The Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Publisher:The Commercial Press (December 2023)

Introduction:

This is a systematic historical work in China on the changes of European living standards, divided into three parts: the Middle Ages (5th–15th centuries),Age ofTransition(16th–18th centuries), and the Modern and ContemporaryTimes(19th–20th centuries), with five chapters in each part, totaling fifteen chapters. Based on empirical study, this book comprehensively analyzes restraining factors such as levels of development of productivity and income distribution. It selects ordinary groups such as the middle class, wage laborers, and the elderly as samples, starting from examining the definition, composition, income sources, and consumption patterns of these samples. It attempts to conduct in-depth and systematic thematic research on the long-term trends of European living standards from the Middle Ages to the present day. It aimsto clarify the economic and political reasons, key nodes, inclusiveness, and differences in the improvement of common people’s living standards over more than a thousand years. It corrects long-standing misunderstandings related to the New Population Theory and economic history on relevant issues, and reveals the institutional and foundational reasons for the success of European civilization from a specific perspective.