This paper investigates the rise of the modern West by studying the origin and development of capitalism in the European context. By means of the writings on this topic by Max Weber, Immanuel Wallerstein, and Fernand Braudel, l try to trace the formation of the "World Economy" and to grasp, the process of transformation of social structures from feudalism to capitalism. Even so partial an analysis as this demonstrates a sociological meaning to this issue that cannot be appreciated by reference to only one or two of their scholarly works.