Like “Guns, Germs, and Steel”, Clark’s book is attempting to answer the question “why are some countries rich and others poor?” In particular, Clark is asking why the Industrial Revolution started when and where it did. His answer is cultural, and possibly even genetic, evolution resulting from the unique circumstances and Darwinian selection pressures that were operating in England for much of its pre-Revolution period. It’s a striking claim, but he lays out a significant amount of evidence for it.