The Square and the Tower by Niall Ferguson
9 out of 10A lot of interesting history is discussed in this book. It describes the arc of human events as an ebb and flow of horizontal networks and vertical hierarchies. The Medicis and the Rothchilds were very well connected people as were almost all successful revolutionaries like Lenin, Franklin, and Robespierre. Political, economic, media, and information networks tend to lead to widespread dispersion of power, but the desire to control the chaos invites a concentrated hierarchy. Ferguson anticipates that global networks will continue to grow stronger and invite more integral complexity than could possibly be governed by centralized officials--though that won't stop the demand for authoritative regulations.