There are two main storylines.
One: Where Jack comes out of third-stage syphilis delirium and leads a diverse rascal band of former galley slaves on a wild quest to steal a boat-load of silver, then return with it back to Europe via the Pacific.
And Two: Where Eliza faces her own troubles in the French court of Louis XIV at Versailles.
Henrich argues that it was first the Catholic Church’s strange practices of reducing the power of extended kin-groups in Europe and then various other protestanty-based ideals which further changed the social psychology of Europeans. And then how the habits of European social psychology bore fruit by encouraging higher rates of education, technological advancement, sharing with strangers, and trust in non-related others.