The Square and the Tower: Networks, Hierarchies and the Struggle for Global Power

**'Silicon Valley needed a history lesson and Ferguson has provided it' Eric Schmidt** **'The most brilliant British historian of his generation' \*The Times**\* \*\*What if everything we thought we knew about history was wrong? **__\*From Niall Ferguson, the global bestselling author of__ Empire, The Ascent of Money __and__ Civilization\*, this is a whole new way of imagining the world.** Most history is hierarchical: it's about popes, presidents, and prime ministers. But what if that's simply because they create the historical archives? What if we are missing equally powerful but less visible networks - leaving them to the conspiracy theorists, with their dreams of all-powerful Illuminati? The twenty-first century has been hailed as the Networked Age. But in __The Square and the Tower__ Niall Ferguson argues that social networks are nothing new. From the printers and preachers who made the Reformation to the freemasons who led the American Revolution, it was the networkers who disrupted the old order of popes and kings. Far from being novel, our era is the Second Networked Age, with the computer in the role of the printing press. Once we understand this, both the past, and the future, start to look very different indeed. \*\* Review “[Ferguson’s] typically bold rethinking of historical currents, painted on the broadest canvas, offers many stimulating insights on the tense interplay between order, oppression, freedom, and anarchy.”—**__Publishers Weekly__, starred review** “Ferguson has written a provocative and intellectually challenging work that should promote consideration and debate among academics and laypersons.”—**__Booklist__** “Renowned economic historian Ferguson draws on insights from network theory to examine disruptions across time. . . . Refreshingly evenhanded. . . . Ferguson offers a novel way of examining data . . . highly intriguing.”—**__Kirkus__** "Niall Ferguson's __The Square and the Tower__ brilliantly illuminates the great power struggle between networks and hierarchies that is raging around the world today. As a software engineer steeped in the theory and practice of networks, I was deeply impressed by this book's insights. Silicon Valley needed a history lesson and Ferguson has provided it." **--Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet, the parent company of Google** About the Author NIALL FERGUSON is one of the world's most renowned historians. He is the author of __Paper and Iron__, __The House of Rothschild__, __The Pity of War__, __The Cash Nexus__, __Empire__, __Colossus__, __The War of the World__, __The Ascent of Money__, __High Financier__, __Civilization__, __The Great Degeneration__, and __Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist__. He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His many awards include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013). 'Silicon Valley needed a history lesson and Ferguson has provided it' Eric Schmidt 'The most brilliant British historian of his generation' *The Times * **What if everything we thought we knew about history was wrong? *From Niall Ferguson, the global bestselling author of Empire, The Ascent of Money and Civilization*, this is a whole new way of imagining the world. Most history is hierarchical: it's about popes, presidents, and prime ministers. But what if that's simply because they create the historical archives? What if we are missing equally powerful but less visible networks - leaving them to the conspiracy theorists, with their dreams of all-powerful Illuminati? The twenty-first century has been hailed as the Networked Age. But in The Square and the Tower Niall Ferguson argues that social networks are nothing new. From the printers and preachers who made the Reformation to the freemasons who led the American Revolution, it was the networkers who disrupted the old order of popes and kings. Far from being novel, our era is the Second Networked Age, with the computer in the role of the printing press. Once we understand this, both the past, and the future, start to look very different indeed. ** Review “[Ferguson’s] typically bold rethinking of historical currents, painted on the broadest canvas, offers many stimulating insights on the tense interplay between order, oppression, freedom, and anarchy.”— Publishers Weekly , starred review “Ferguson has written a provocative and intellectually challenging work that should promote consideration and debate among academics and laypersons.”— Booklist “Renowned economic historian Ferguson draws on insights from network theory to examine disruptions across time. . . . Refreshingly evenhanded. . . . Ferguson offers a novel way of examining data . . . highly intriguing.”— Kirkus "Niall Ferguson's The Square and the Tower brilliantly illuminates the great power struggle between networks and hierarchies that is raging around the world today. As a software engineer steeped in the theory and practice of networks, I was deeply impressed by this book's insights. Silicon Valley needed a history lesson and Ferguson has provided it." --Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet, the parent company of Google About the Author NIALL FERGUSON is one of the world's most renowned historians. He is the author of Paper and Iron , The House of Rothschild , The Pity of War , The Cash Nexus , Empire , Colossus , The War of the World , The Ascent of Money , High Financier , Civilization , The Great Degeneration , and Kissinger, 1923-1968: The Idealist . He is Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. His many awards include the Benjamin Franklin Prize for Public Service (2010), the Hayek Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2012) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize for Economic Journalism (2013). Business & Economics,Money & Monetary Policy,History,Social History,World,Economic History The instant New York Times bestseller. A brilliant recasting of the turning points in world history, including the one we're living through, as a collision between old power hierarchies and new social networks.“Captivating and compelling.” —The New York Times'Niall Ferguson has again written a brilliant book...In 400 pages you will have restocked your mind. Do it.'—The Wall Street Journal“The Square and the Tower, in addition to being provocative history, may prove to be a bellwether work of the Internet Age.” —Christian Science MonitorMost history is hierarchical: it's about emperors, presidents, prime ministers and field marshals. It's about states, armies and corporations. It's about orders from on high. Even history'from below'is often about trade unions and workers'parties. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change?The 21st century has been hailed as the Age of Networks. However, in The Square and the Tower, Niall Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us, from the structure of the brain to the food chain, from the family tree to freemasonry. Throughout history, hierarchies housed in high towers have claimed to rule, but often real power has resided in the networks in the town square below. For it is networks that tend to innovate. And it is through networks that revolutionary ideas can contagiously spread. Just because conspiracy theorists like to fantasize about such networks doesn't mean they are not real. From the cults of ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the founding fathers to Facebook, The Square and the Tower tells the story of the rise, fall and rise of networks, and shows how network theory--concepts such as clustering, degrees of separation, weak ties, contagions and phase transitions--can transform our understanding of both the past and the present.Just as The Ascent of Money put Wall Street into historical perspective, so The Square and the Tower does the same for Silicon Valley. And it offers a bold prediction about which hierarchies will withstand this latest wave of network disruption--and which will be toppled. "A brilliant recasting of the turning points in world history, including the one we're living through, as a struggle between old power hierarchies and new social networks. Most history is hierarchical: it's about popes, presidents, prime ministers and other potentates. It's about states, armies and corporations. It's about orders from on high. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the less visible social networks that are the true drivers of change--leaving them to the conspiracy theorists, with their dreams of all-powerful Illuminati? The twenty-first century has been hailed as the Age of Networks. However, in [this book], Niall Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us, from the structure of the brain to the food chain, from the family tree to freemasonry. Throughout history, hierarchies housed in high towers have claimed to rule, but often real power has resided in the networks in the town square below. For it is networks that tend to innovate. And it is through networks that revolutionary ideas can contagiously spread. Just because conspiracy theorists like to fantasize about such networks doesn't mean they are not real. From the cults of ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the founding fathers to Facebook, The Square and the Tower tells the story of the rise, fall and rise of networks. Far from being novel, Ferguson argues, our era is the Second Networked Age, with the personal computer in the role of the printing press. And he shows how network theory--concepts such as homophily, degrees of separation, weak ties, viral contagions and phase transitions--can transform our understanding of both the past and the present. Just as The Ascent of Money put Wall Street into historical perspective as the financial crisis struck ten years ago, so The Square and the Tower does for Silicon Valley as political storm clouds gather over the tech titans. Those who prophesize a global community of interconnected netizens are in for a shock, Ferguson warns. For the conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries already have unnerving parallels today in the time of Facebook, the Islamic State and Trump."--Dust jacket Most history is hierarchical: it's about popes, presidents, prime ministers and other potentates. It's about states, armies and corporations. It's about orders from on high. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the less visible social networks that are the true drivers of change - leaving them to the conspiracy theorists, with their dreams of all-powerful Illuminati? The twenty-first century has been hailed as the Age of Networks. However, in The Square and the Tower, Niall Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us, from the structure of the brain to the food chain, from the family tree to freemasonry. Throughout history, hierarchies housed in high towers have claimed to rule, but often real power has resided in the networks in the town square below. For it is networks that tend to innovate. And it is through networks that revolutionary ideas can contagiously spread. Just because conspiracy theorists like to fantasize about such networks doesn't mean they are not real. From the cults of ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the founding fathers to Facebook, The Square and the Tower tells the story of the rise, fall and rise of networks. Far from being novel, Ferguson argues, our era is the Second Networked Age, with the personal computer in the role of the printing press. And he shows how network theory - concepts such as homophily, degrees of separation, weak ties, viral contagions, and phase transitions - can transform our understanding of both the past and the present. Just as The Ascent of Money put Wall Street into historical perspective as the financial crisis struck ten years ago, so The Square and the Tower does for Silicon Valley as political storm clouds gather over the tech titans. Those who prophesize a global community of interconnected netizens are in for a shock, Ferguson warns. For the conflicts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries already have unnerving parallels today in the time of Facebook, the Islamic State and Trump. -- from dust jacket A Recasting Of The Turning Points In World History, Including The One We're Living Through, As A Struggle Between Old Power Hierarchies And New Social Networks--dust Jacket. Part I: Introduction: Networks And Hierarchies ; The Mystery Of The Illuminati ; Our Networked Age ; Networks, Networks Everywhere ; Why Hierarchies? ; From Seven Bridges To Six Degrees ; Weak Ties And Viral Ideas ; Varieties Of Network ; When Networks Meet ; Seven Insights ; The Illuminati Illuminated -- Part Ii: Emperors And Explorers. A Brief History Of Hierarchy ; The First Networked Age ; The Art Of The Renaissance Deal ; Discoverers ; Pizarro And The Inca ; When Gutenberg Met Luther -- Part Iii: Letters And Lodges. The Economic Consequences Of The Reformation ; Trading Ideas ; Networks Of Enlightenment ; Networks Of Revolution -- Part Iv: The Restoration Of Hierarchy. The Red And The Black ; From Crowd To Tyranny ; Order Restored ; The House Of Saxe-coburg-gotha ; The House Of Rothschild ; Industrial Networks ; From Pentarchy To Hegemony -- Part V: Knights Of The Round Table. An Imperial Life ; Empire ; Taiping ; 'the Chinese Must Go' ; The Union Of South Africa ; Apostles ; Armageddon -- Part Vi: Plagues And Pipers. Greenmantle ; The Plague ; The Leader Principle ; The Fall Of The Golden International ; The Ring Of Five ; Brief Encounter ; Ella In Reform School -- Part Vii: Own The Jungle. The Long Peace ; The General ; The Crisis Of Complexity ; Henry Kissinger's Network Of Power ; Into The Valley ; The Fall Of The Soviet Empire ; The Triumph Of Davos Man ; Breaking The Bank Of England -- Part Viii: The Library Of Babel. 9/11/2001 ; 9/15/2008 ; The Administrative State ; Web 2.0 ; Coming Apart ; Tweeting The Revolution ; 11/9/2016 -- Part Ix: Conclusion: Facing Cyberia. Metropolis ; Network Outage ; Fang, Bat And Eu ; The Square And The Tower Redux -- Afterword: The Original Square And Tower. Niall Ferguson. First Published: [london] : Allen Lane, An Imprint Of Penguin Books, 2017. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 436-536) And Index. Most history is hierarchical: it's about emperors, presidents, prime ministers and field marshals. It's about states, armies and corporations. It's about orders from on high. Even history "from below" is often about trade unions and workers' parties. But what if that's simply because hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on? What if we are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change? The 21st century has been hailed as the Age of Networks. However, in The Square and the Tower , Niall Ferguson argues that networks have always been with us, from the structure of the brain to the food chain, from the family tree to freemasonry. Throughout history, hierarchies housed in high towers have claimed to rule, but often real power has resided in the networks in the town square below. For it is networks that tend to innovate. And it is through networks that revolutionary ideas can contagiously spread. Just because conspiracy theorists like to fantasize about such networks doesn't mean they are not real. From the cults of ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the founding fathers to Facebook, The Square and the Tower tells the story of the rise, fall and rise of networks, and shows how network theory--concepts such as clustering, degrees of separation, weak ties, contagions and phase transitions--can transform our understanding of both the past and the present. Just as The Ascent of Money put Wall Street into historical perspective, so The Square and the Tower does the same for Silicon Valley. And it offers a bold prediction about which hierarchies will withstand this latest wave of network disruption--and which will be toppled. A reevaluation of history's turning points as collisions between old power hierarchies and new social networks explains how networks have always existed and have been responsible for key innovations and revolutionary ideas.