Biddy gobbed in her gob.

"the weight of personality over Western history"?

You get a feel for what the personalities of important historical figures had over different events in Western history, especially American history... particularly American business and economic history. Madison and Jefferson's personal rift with Hamilton, which motivated them to scrap his National Bank; Commidor Vanderbuilt serving as the de facto national reserve for 60 years, rescuing the world from major more than one major depression; the unique relationship that went on behind the scenes to motivate "Madison v. Marbury," which established the power of the judiciary... It's a constant reminder that while policy, laws, and morality are important for guiding decisions and events, it's always the people behind them that make those events important.

It wasn't the assertion that people are important to human history i was questioning, but the delimitation of the western world.

And now that I've wrapped up The Professor and the Madman, I think I'll take you up on that and check out Empire of Wealth when I've got a free moment, though now I'd also like to read the similarly titled Empire of Words, also on the OED.