For centuries following the spread of Islam, the Middle East was far ahead of Europe. Yet, the modern economy was born in Europe. Why was it not born in the Middle East? In this book Jared Rubin examines the role that Islam played in this reversal of fortunes. It argues that the religion itself is not to blame; the importance of religious legitimacy in Middle Eastern politics was the primary culprit. Muslim religious authorities were given an important seat at the political bargaining table, which they used to block important advancements such as the printing press and lending at interest. In Europe, however, the Church played a weaker role in legitimizing rule, especially where Protestantism spread (indeed, the Reformation was successful due to the spread of printing, which was blocked in the Middle East). It was precisely in those Protestant nations, especially England and the Dutch Republic, where the modern economy was born. "Rubin's book presents us with an explanation for this great reversal [between Western Europe and the Middle East], which will have to be taken into account from now on in all future discussions on the economic history of the Islamic world ... It is a tale that combines economic history, political economy, and religion in a unique and novel way." - Joel Mokyr, Northwestern University (review for EH.net , available at eh.net/book_reviews/rulers-religion-and-riches-why-the-west-got-rich-and-the-middle-east-did-not/) "[ Rulers, Religion, and Riches ] is an excellent piece of economic history. It represents a major contribution to the Great Divergence debate and to the institutional history of Western Europe and the Middle East. The argument is made concisely and it succeeds in being both accessible to undergraduates and the wider population while being sufficiently rigorous and detailed to engage specialists... Rubin has written a highly stimulating book on the institutional causes of the economic divergence between Western Europe and the Middle East, one that will no doubt encourage much future research." - Mark Koyama, George Mason University (review in Public Choice ) "Rubin explains economic complexity with clarity and concision, and though it amounts to only a single piece of the divergence puzzle, his key argument - that "it matters who propagates political rule" - is indeed central to the Middle East's struggles past and present." - Christopher Kissane , The Guardian This book seeks to explain the political and religious factors leading to the economic reversal of fortunes between Europe and the Middle East. I began research for this book in 2004, my third year of graduate school at Stanford University. The events of 9/11 were still fresh and the US-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were already quagmires with no end in sight. Conflict between the "West" and the "Islamic world" was one of the enduring stories of the time. Not much has changed on this front in the twelve years over which I researched for this book. The Arab Spring, terrorist attacks in the West and the Middle East, the rise of Al-Qaeda cells throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the spread of ISIS, and the devastating Syrian refugee crisis all suggest that many of the political and economic struggles of the foreseeable future will take place in the Middle East, or at the very least will involve interactions between the Middle East and the West. Understanding the roots of conflict between the Middle East and the West is therefore of first-order importance. It is my opinion that the most important driver of this conflict is the vast disparity in the economic fortunes of the two regions. The economic disparity is real; while it is true that a few of the Gulf States gained significant oil wealth in the latter half of the 20th century, only a small fraction of the population has seen any of its benefits. In any case, this wealth is fleeting; there is little evidence to my knowledge that any of the wealthy oil nations have built anything close to an economy that will stay strong as the world shifts away from petroleum as a primary energy source. The economic disparity between the "West and the Rest" permitted Western occupation and colonization of the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries. This disparity also permitted authoritarian rulers, generally supported by the West, to dominate Middle Eastern politics throughout most of the 20th century. These outcomes have deep historical roots, and it is the goal of this book to discover and analyze these roots. The arguments laid out are inherently comparative; the causes of what went wrong, if anything did indeed go wrong, in the Middle East are easier to ascertain by analyzing what went right in parts of Western Europe. The goal of the book is therefore twofold. On the one hand, it provides insight into some of the necessary determinants for long-run economic success. On the other hand, it spells out how and why an economy might stagnate if those