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Recent Reviews
Jared Diamond
Mixed The Washington Post Diamond goes to great lengths to show that, despite the enormous differences between individuals and nations, his approach can be usefully applied to diagnose and solve national crises. But are nations and individuals in the throes of crisis really comparable? His analysis fails to persuade ... Though the analysis stumbles, the virtues of Diamond’s storytelling shine through. Ignore his attempts to force the therapeutic 12-step onto history. Ignore also his correct but unsurprising musings about the dangerous threats facing humanity (nuclear weapons, climate change, resource depletion and inequality ). Instead, let this experienced observer with an uncanny eye for the small details that reveal larger truths take you on an expedition around the world and through fascinating pivotal moments in seven countries. Upheaval works much better as a travelogue than as a contribution to our understanding of national crises.
Yuval Noah Harari
Mixed The Washington Post \"The [book\'s] result is a mixed bag. A profusion of platitudes, well-known vignettes, stock phrases and clichés coexists with the brilliant observations that distinguish Harari’s writings ... Alongside some of the bromides he relies on to dispatch major problems, Harari also offers an abundance of fascinating interpretations and comments ... 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a defective book and probably the weakest of Harari’s oeuvre. Yet, it is a testament to his brilliance that this book has much to engage the curious mind.\
Steven Brill
Positive The Washington Post America is now divided, Brill writes, between the protected few — the winners — who don’t need government for much and even have a stake in sabotaging the government’s responsibility to all of its citizens...(and) the unprotected many, who rely on government, as they always have, to protect and preserve their way of life and maybe even improve it. That divide is the essence of America’s tailspin. He centers his analysis on the unintended consequences of some of the most attractive traits of this nation. Meritocracy is an important one, and the pages of Tailspin are full of examples of how it has morphed into a new aristocracy ... How America became a divided nation of the protected and the unprotected.
Niall Ferguson
Positive The Washington Post The Square and the Tower will not disappoint readers who have come to expect from Ferguson ambition, erudition, originality and expansive historical panoramas. These often come mixed with telling anecdotes, illuminating minutiae, fun facts and even some facile one-liners that, while entertaining, don’t add much to the argument ... Ferguson notes that the book 'brings together theoretical insights from myriad disciplines, ranging from economics to sociology, from neuroscience to organizational behavior.' Unfortunately, it is not clear how he deploys this theoretical arsenal to support his main thesis ... The Square and the Tower, however, also suffers because its main unit of analysis, the social network, is too imprecise a concept to provide a solid foundation from which to launch the book’s epic theorizing ... Nonetheless, the networks-and-hierarchies dichotomy does work as a narrative device that allows a gifted storyteller to take his readers on a fascinating tour of world history.
Tim Marshall
Pan The Washington Post ...[an] amusing but ultimately frustrating book ... The book is essentially a compilation of such facts about flags, and the author is clearly uninterested in exploring the broader significance of the multitude of individual facts with which he packs each of the nine chapters. Marshall writes more as a hobbyist who hoards details about the subject of his fascination rather than as an analyst attempting to explain the role of flags in international affairs or domestic politics ... We surely need a deeper understanding of the dynamics of nationalism and the powerful appeal of political symbols. Marshall acknowledges as much but ultimately does little to use his vast knowledge of flags and the lessons of history to offer robust insights about the uses and misuses of flags in world affairs.