Current read: The Square and the Tower by Niall Ferguson

The front cover. This one is from the National Library. I’m ordering my own.

This is why I keep telling people I meet that I am decades behind in my reading and writing. No one’s fault but mine, of course, but it’s never too late, eh? Niall Fergus on is of course a most prominent historian. You know that, of course, because even I have come to know of him! I first encountered Niall Ferguson on the Hoover Institution’s “GoodFellows” video series and he immediately struck me as someone who talks a lot of painstakingly researched sense. I picked up his book, not the most recent one, called “The Square and the Tower” and have given it a glance-over before diving in. It seems to me to be about both obvious and not-so-obvious networks and their characteristics and effects on the best-laid plans of mice and men. Also, the relationship between hierarchies and networks, or the exercise of powers seen and not-quite-seen. Having had a brief brush with business networking groups for a few years, I am also eager to see what Niall Ferguson’s take on those groups might be, even if only obliquely referenced.

Coming next is a brief review. In the meantime, do check out my previous posts on hierarchies and networking. Type out search terms in the search bar.

One of the interesting diagrams in the book.

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