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colebon's review against another edition
5.0
Very rich book, dense in content. Highly recommend it, since it provides an interesting view of all of recorded history and what we can learn from history as a whole, without being reductionist.
jeffthink's review
4.0
“Most history is guessing, and the rest is prejudice.”
What a delightfully ambitious little book - trying to distill the major lessons of history into ~100 pages! Having been published in the 60's, it's pretty amazing how strong some of the lessons resonate ~50 years later. That said, some of the topics feel a bit colored by the time it was written (e.g. a lot of discussion about communism). I'd highly recommend it as a book that if nothing else, will really get you thinking about the geo-political forces at play around you. This quote in particular feels really important to consider given current times:
"Hence most governments have been oligarchies—ruled by a minority, chosen either by birth, as in aristocracies, or by a religious organization, as in theocracies, or by wealth, as in democracies."
What a delightfully ambitious little book - trying to distill the major lessons of history into ~100 pages! Having been published in the 60's, it's pretty amazing how strong some of the lessons resonate ~50 years later. That said, some of the topics feel a bit colored by the time it was written (e.g. a lot of discussion about communism). I'd highly recommend it as a book that if nothing else, will really get you thinking about the geo-political forces at play around you. This quote in particular feels really important to consider given current times:
"Hence most governments have been oligarchies—ruled by a minority, chosen either by birth, as in aristocracies, or by a religious organization, as in theocracies, or by wealth, as in democracies."
korey's review against another edition
5.0
Packs a punch! Low on pages, but punches above it's weight. You'll want to read slowly and take notes. Goes deep. Kind of a mini-Sapiens book. Really liked it.
reyesreadingreview's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0