The Great Divergence" allows us to take a no-new look at one of the classic questions of history: did we achieve stability in industrial development in North Western Europe, despite the amazing similarity of situations observed in the most developed regions of Europe and East Asia? Kenneth Pomerantz shows that even about the middle of the XVIII century. these two parts of the world were very similar in terms of such indicators as life expectancy, consumption, markets for goods and means of production, household strategies.