Peak Human: What We Can Learn from History’s Greatest Civilizations

by Johan Norberg, Andrew Cullum (Narrator)

All golden ages are marked by periods of spectacular cultural flourishing, scientific exploration, technological achievement and economic growth; yet no two are the same. Their beliefs, societies and place in the wider world all vary. Despite this, all previous golden ages have ended, whether it be because of external pressures or internal fracturing; too much hubris or too little wariness.

Looking at seven of humanity's greatest civilisations—ancient Athens, the Roman Republic, Abbasid Baghdad, Song China, Renaissance Italy, the Dutch Republic and the Anglosphere—historian and commentator Johan Norberg seeks to distil their strengths and shortcomings in answering the how do we ensure that our current golden age doesn't end?

As insightful as it is riveting, Peak Human is at once a paean to our incredible progress and a warning that we cannot afford to be complacent.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Economics, Politics, Society, Historical, Cultural

Audible Audio

First published May 1, 2025

Reviews

[ROLLAND Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book, praised by The Economist as an anti-MAGA book (with historical data).

Not as academic as I would have hoped / wanted, but still a good resource. This book was easy to read, with 7 chapters that can carry you through a week of learning. One chapter a day keeps the MAGA away?

I realized how little I know about Song China and the Abbasid dynasty. More than anything, Peak Human will make you want to read *more* and know *more* about past civilizations, their golden age, and their fall. Thank you Johan Norberg for this nugget of knowledge and wisdom, complete with generous notes, catering to the voracious reader.

We may live through grim times, but there is hope for the future.

[Lukas N.P. Egger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peak Human is a deeply enjoyable history book wrapped in the promise of a grand explanatory framework. And that mismatch is ultimately why it tops out at three stars for me, despite the author’s knowledge, charm, and conviction.

Norberg wants to argue for a specific model of civilizational success, namely one that emphasizes openness, meritocracy, decentralization, and trade. But, instead of rigorously testing the framework, he ends up writing multiple miniature history books with variations of the same conclusion tacked on at the end.

After a while, the repetition shows. So does the intellectual asymmetry, i.e., he rarely engages with counterexamples (Japan’s sakoku period comes to mind), nor with alternative theories such as the “great man” view of history that would challenge his structuralist lens.

The result is a book that’s rich, learned, and full of delightful connections, e.g., the Dutch Republic echoing English constitutional reforms, Chinese bureaucratic innovations resurfacing centuries later, etc.
It feels as though the history came first and the theory was retrofitted afterward.

Did it change the way I see the world? A little. It reinforced my sense that we’re late in the arc of the current hegemon, and that every golden age contains the seeds of its own undoing.
It’s a fun, wide-ranging read. Just don’t expect a theory of peak societies.

[Richard Hakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This should have been a five. The concept deserves it. The essence is free trade and free movement (of skilled people anyway), which will not be music to the ears of some people is the way to the golden age. Fossilising in the past isn't going to be the way forward. This has always been my attitude. Maybe this is why I liked the book. I am not sure the writing in the book articulated the idea.

[Abul Kalam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I believe the author was trying to be fair and objective as he could. And I believe in most cases he was, he treated the Muslim and Chinese with respect.

However ultimately there was a very subjective Western European narrative. There are strong biases unconscious or otherwise. Nothing new if you know your history.

He begins with the Greeks typically as all Europeans seeking to state they are the beginning of true civilisation. Leaving out entirely the Mesopotamians, Egyptians (where the Greeks took many of their ideas from) not to mention the Indian (Hindu) and Aztec communities.

Overall not bad and he does try to be fair as one can be I guess. And I would say it’s worth a read he does cover a lot in a very compact way. However it is heavily biased towards Western Europe and America

[Jim Gise · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent survey course of the big golden ages, emphasizing the importance of openness to innovation and knowledge sharing to promote new ideas to improve the human condition. Refreshingly optimistic and clear and evidenced based at the same time.

[Urban · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johan Norberg ist senior fellow am Cato Institut in Washington, DC, USA, und er legt mit Peak Human eine Geschichtsstudie vor, die eine aktuelle, ungemütliche Frage betrifft: Geht es mit "dem Westen" bergab, seitdem Präsident Trump den globalen Handel torpediert?

Untersuchungsgegenstand des Werks sind verschiedene Perioden der Menschheitsgeschichte, in denen Wohlstands- und Technologiesprünge erzielt werden konnten, so genannte golden ages. Der Autor untersucht, welche Voraussetzungen gegeben waren, damit es zu diesen Höhepunkten kommen konnte und ob es Gemeinsamkeiten gab.

Als golden ages identifiziert Norberg das klassische Athen, das Römische Reich, das Kalifat der Abbasiden, das China der Song-Dynastie, die oberitalienischen Städte der Renaissance, die Holländische Republik und die Anglosphere, also das Großbritannien der industriellen Revolution, welches von den USA abgelöst wurde, welche ihr System nach dem 2. Weltkrieg wiederum erfolgreich globalisierten. Jedem golden age ist ein Kapitel gewidmet, im letzten Kapitel geht es um die Schlussfolgerungen für heute.

Typischerweise wurden golden ages eingeleitet in Phasen des Friedens nach einer Auseinandersetzung, in der nach vorne geblickt wurde und die ein laissez faire der Staatsgewalt ermöglichten mit der Folge, dass ökonomische Freiheiten gestärkt wurden. Zusätzlich wurde durch Handel oder andere Umstände eine Toleranz gegenüber Fremden gepflegt mit der Folge, dass man offen war neuen und fremden Ideen gegenüber. Unter diesen Voraussetzungen konnten Wohlstandsgewinne für alle erreicht werden, auch für Bauern und Ungelernte.

Norberg entgeht es nicht, dass in vielen Perioden die Wohlstands- und Freiheitsgewinne nicht allen zugute kamen: in allen Perioden gab es Sklaverei und in allen Perioden wurden den Frauen weniger Rechte als den Männern zugesprochen. Erst im letzten Drittel der aktuellen Wohlstandsperiode änderte sich das.

Alle Golden ages bis auf die letzte fanden isoliert in einzelnen Ländern oder Regionen statt, so dass sie anfällig waren für Krisen von außen: Pest, Klimaänderungen, Mongolenstürme, Religionskriege usw. Diese Katastrophen bewirkten immer eine Stärkung der Staatsgewalt, eine Steigerung der Intoleranz und ein Rückgang des Handels, mithin, sie beendeten die positive Epoche.

Erstmalig weißt unsere aktuelle golden age eine globale Struktur auf, die sie resilienter macht gegen regionale Katastrophen. Ob sie sich auch resilient erweist gegen den Tsunami an Problemen, die sich seit einigen Jahren verstärken - Klimawandel, Migrationsströme, Erstarken autokratischer Regime, Pandemien etc. - wird sich zeigen. Johan Norberg ist jedenfalls einigermaßen positiv gestimmt, wobei jeder aus den im Buch aufgezeigten Fakten seine eigenen Schlüsse ziehen sollte.

Geschichte ist dazu da, dass wir aus ihr lernen. Das macht sie so spannend - gerade wenn es um drängende Fragen der Zeit geht. Wer sich gründlicher mit der Materie beschäftigen will, dem gibt der Autor einen umfangreichen Apparat an die Hand bestehend aus einem Literaturverzeichnis und einem ausgesprochen differenzierten Glossar.

Klare Leseempfehlung für alle, denen es bei der täglichen Lektüre der News mulmig wird!

[Robert Jeens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somebody said that we have to learn from history because that's all there is to learn from. In this spirit, Johan Norberg analyzes classical Athens, Republican Rome, the Abbasid Caliphate, Song China, Renaissance Italy, the Dutch Republic, and the Anglosphere. Why did they rise? Why did they fall? What lessons can we learn so that we won't fall? While each had their individual story, their most important common characteristics were that they were relatively politically, ideologically and economically free and open societies compared to their neighbors and to what came before and after them. This freedom is thus a necessary precondition for human flourishing.

There book has its strengths. First, it eschews a couple of pernicious ideas from both left and right. Cultural relativism is foolish because “'Some cultures are better than others because they provide institutions for positive-sum games instead of zero-sum." However, our own culture, for example, is not inherently better than others for all time. "Those who were seen as barbarians in one era become world leaders...in the next." Next, history is a crime scene, but some times and places were better than others. There actually were golden ages, periods when innovations brought a higher standard of living, cultural creativity, and openness. However, due to elites wanting to keep what they have, the conservatism of most people, and jealous neighbors, they often do not last long. Lastly, we are incredibly lucky to live when we do.

On the other hand, it is difficult to give credence to single-factor theses for civilizations’ rise and fall. Historical explanations are complex. Remember Jared Diamond’s scaremongering “Collapse”, in which he told us that civilizations inevitably fall because their resource base runs out or their development befouls their environment? Also, why did the author pick the cases he did? Why not the Aztec Empire, an undoubtedly powerful entity in 15th century Mexico, with advanced agricultural technology? Or how about the Mughals in the Indian subcontinent, or the 19th century Russian empire? It may be possible that the examples the author cites show that, in those cases, human freedom led to human flourishing. That may not be true for all places and all times. The author’s examples bring their own conclusion.

As for his narratives for the rise and fall of each civilization in the book, I do not have the background to vouch for them, but I will comment that the economic historian Robert Allen, in “The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective” found that the most important reasons for the British Industrial Revolution were not economic and political freedom but expensive labor and cheap power. If authoritarian France had expensive labor and cheap power, the Industrial Revolution may have happened there.

So, I like the tone of the book and I think that economic, ideological and political freedom are extremely important components of a place where I would like to live. I am not so sure, however, that they are sufficient conditions to explain all the efflorescences of human culture in history. It is a pity.

The author leaves us with a warning to avoid the mistakes of the past and close our ideas, economies, and societies and so lead to decline. I agree with hm that we should not do that, and I agree with him that there is a very real threat that the country that has most powerfully represented those ideas since 1945 might be becoming the biggest threat to those ideals. On the other hand, highly debatable historical analysis might not make the best argument for it.

[Nicolas B · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Peak Human: What We Can Learn from the Rise and Fall of Golden Ages” reviews seven empires from Athens to the Anglosphere in seven chapters. Each chapter follows the rise and fall of the empire, except the Anglosphere, which can be considered ongoing. Johan Norberg tells compelling stories for why these empires peaked: they were tolerant and gave their people the freedom to learn, live, innovate, and reap the fruits of their innovations.
Of course, these freedoms were not allocated to all people equally, as the empires always have to be considered in the context of their times. We should not measure them by today’s standards but can consider them ahead of their time. For example, slavery was still present in many of the reviewed empires and women’s rights were typically limited. I generally liked that Norberg reminded us not to view past empires through our modern lenses. He highlights that it further depends on who is writing history: romantic poets or factory workers during the industrial revolution.
On two aspects, I was a bit less convinced. First, the downfall of empires did not always seem to be preceded by reduced tolerance and freedom; rather, invasions (such as the Mongols) ushered in the downfalls of at least two empires (Romans and Song China). If tolerance and freedom helped these empires rise, they seemed not enough to protect them from less tolerant and less free invaders. I thus wondered whether tolerance and freedom were sometimes characteristics of flourishing empires rather than causal factors influencing their rise and downfall. Such an interpretation does not alter the conclusion that we should not take tolerance and freedom for granted, but need to be vigilant in order to protect them.
The second aspect related to the Anglosphere and the conclusion of the book, which I think had a tendency to be too lenient on the US regarding the negative impact of their interventionism (Middle East, Vietnam, Guatemala, etc). I think there are too many examples where this led to more harm than progress, and it seemed to me too simplistic to brush that aside by saying that, unfortunately, this is something that empires occasionally do. Furthermore, I think it is still debatable whether opening one’s country completely to the US-dominated global market order is actually the fastest track to wealth, or whether it keeps a country rather in it’s developing state. But other than that, I appreciated the rather optimistic view of the book’s conclusion regarding the progress that has been made for a large share of the population, and the reminder of what is at stake.
Overall, I can highly recommend Peak Human. The historic review was frequently interwoven with fun facts and side notes, which made the book an easy and joyful read.

[Hampus Jakobsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peak Human goes through seven “golden ages” from ancient Athens, the Abbasids, Song China, Renaissance Florence, the Dutch trading empire, and the post-industrial West—asking what made them flourish, and why they fell apart. The answer is what mattered: Openness. Whether it’s trade, ideas, migration, or tolerance, Norberg argues that societies peak when they embrace the outside world and decline when they close up.

The author, Johan Norberg, is very open about being a classical liberal, so the book is clean and clear on the recipe for success. It does not look at some of the complexities of external factors, geography, or inequality. Only civilisations with the “liberal openness trait” are in the book, not, for example, Aztecs (low openness but high tech and urban) or postwar South Korea (which wasn’t a democracy or liberally open).

That said, I enjoyed it, and here are some notes on the civs:
- Ancient Athens & Roman Republic: “democratic” openness, economic freedom, citizenship inclusion, foreign knowledge absorption. Rome peaked during Augustus’s rule when marginal tax rates on new income hit zero.
- Abbasid Baghdad: Flourished through translation projects, tolerance, trade, and social mobility—supporting a vibrant bourgeois culture.
- Song China: Pre‑industrial powerhouse with meritocracy, coal-fueled iron, paper money, agrarian growth, and mass printing. D
- Renaissance Italy & Dutch Republic: Sparked by openness to pagan ideas, financial innovation, and secular commerce.
- Anglosphere: Spawned from the Industrial Revolution and liberal order. Since 1820, extreme poverty dropped from ~80 % to <10 %, life expectancy climbed from ~30 to 74 years.

It was also interesting to read how the British supercycle was essentially created by the Dutch and, obviously, the Americans from the British. So, even if the locus of power has shifted, maybe we have been in a golden age for a while now.

Naturally, the book feels extra relevant given how many of the world’s leaders in recent years only focus on what is inside their own borders and don’t want anything to cross them.

[Popup-ch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johan Norberg - a Swedish thinker who's currently working for the Cato institute - looks at historical cases of 'Golden Ages', and asks why they flourished and why they faltered. His selection of Golden Ages are: Classical Athens, Imperial Rome, Abbasid Empire, Chinese Song dynasty, Renaissance Italy, the Dutch Republic and the Anglosphere.

He shows how these regions flourished as long as they were open to trade, people and ideas from abroad, and withered to insignificance when they stopped doing so. (Or when invaded by Mongols.)

I was surprised by his inclusion of the Dutch Republic, more-or-less from Dutch independence from Spain in 1588, until the Dutch invasion of England, which was later rebranded as the 'Glorious Revolution'. This then launched the same liberal ideas onto the fertile English soil, where it resulted in what he calls the Anglosphere. There's a kind-of continuum from the Dutch Republic, via the English industrial Revolution to the US hegemony, similar to the way that the Roman Empire lent heavily on the Greek tradition.

The Abbasid Caliphate consciously carried over the advances by the ancients, translating and keeping alive thinkers like Aristotle in an atmosphere of religious tolerance and also advancing chemistry, mathematics and medicine. Until they were mowed down by Genghis Khan.

I didn't know much about the Song dynasty, which was arguably the high-point of China, lasting from roughly 1000-1300. It was marked by limited regulation, free trade and a light-touch government - until it was conquered by Kublai Khan.

Norberg doesn't say so explicitly, but between the lines it's clear that he's worried by the current fissures in The West, with the increased xenophobia, border checks and recently radically increased tariffs. When we stop trading, innovating, and appropriating inventions from elsewhere, history suggests that we're very close to being overrun by Mongols.

I don't agree with everything he says, but he has many interesting thoughts. In many ways it parallels 'The Beginning of Infinity' in its optimism , but adds a note of caution.

[Behrooz Parhami · Rating 4 out of 5]

A golden age is a period marked by cultural flourishing, scientific exploration, technological achievement, and economic growth. In this book, acclaimed historian Johan Norberg, described by The Guardian as “a prophet of anti-pessimism,” examines seven of humanity's greatest civilizations:

- Ancient Greece (gave us democracy & the rule of law)

- Roman Republic (gave us engineering & systems of governance)

- Abbasid Baghdad (gave us algebra & modern medicine)

- Song China (gave us compass, gunpowder, & movable type)

- Renaissance Italy (gave us the heliocentric model & much more)

- Dutch Republic (gave us one of the greatest artistic movements)

- The Anglosphere (gave us the scientific revolution)

Peak civilizations were of course in constant conflict with dark forces. Among the forces placed on the wrong side of history are the Spartans, who left us nothing of lasting value. Norberg suggests that they weren’t even good fighters. They were “the most overrated warriors in ancient history; they just had very good PR.”

Norberg doesn’t shy away from the horrors of slavery, wondering to what extent the inhumane treatment and unpaid labor enabled the so-called golden ages. He finds slavery not to have been a definitive causal factor, arguing that slavery was also the norm among other, less successful, societies. Norberg also doesn’t seem bothered by modern-day sweatshops and the frictionless digital economy, which feeds on endless transmittal of less and less useful information. Whether the same arguments he uses to dismiss the impact of slavery applies here is open to debate.

All seven golden ages above were proven finite. According to Norberg, polities that were more open to trade, to strangers, and to ideas outshone their peers. Heeding lessons from these examples, Norberg addresses the question of how we can ensure that our current golden age doesn't end. “History casts long shadows,” Norbert concludes, “but also light.”

[Rahul Nayak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent read. But as it goes for all the history books written by European authors, the history of the world = The history of Europe. (The rest of the world existed only after Europe was done creating history.)

However, the book can be partially pardoned for this mistake for two reasons.

First, it includes selective examples from China and the Middle East as well (though still very much tinted with European glasses).

And second, the book is not a history book, but rather about understanding the conditions that lead a civilisation to its golden ages and then to decay. And for that, the book makes several interesting observations using handpicked examples from medieval history and formulates a neat hypothesis. It is also a very entertaining read as it dissects several well-known historical episodes (like the battle of Thermopylae) and presents a counter-pop-culture opinion on the forces that transpired the events.

If there is one key point that I took away from this book, it is this: When intolerance sets in and stupidity goes viral, no empire or nation, no matter how mighty, is immune to rot and decay. And it can happen to any nation with surprising speed, sometimes within a few decades, if not years.

Overall, highly recommended.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Open is the psychological base for Norberg's project, then Peak Human is the historical base. While not as detailed as some might like, it covers a wide range from the anicent world up to near-modern days. It is packed with information. I found more context for periods I knew a lot about while also being enlightened about new periods and peoples, such as Song China and the Dutch Republic. Perhaps I found those sections really engaging because that history was new to me, and presented quite well. Norberg does a good job of covering both the highs and lows of these regions with due diligence. I did find it...disappointing that he used mostly secondary sources; he relies on a lot of other people's research (this isn't bad by itself, but Norberg is more likely to trust another scholar when he's not as familiar with that era). I'm not sure how someone who's not broadly on board with his ideological views (we have our disagreements) would take to this. I think it's a serviceable history; you'll learn a lot while reading it and think about even more in between sittings.

[Marcus Bäckström · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johan Norberg was my big ideological idol during my teenage years and gave me the intellectual tools I needed I engage in political discussion and debate. I’m still (even though I’m no longer a libertarian) a fan and have read most of his works. In my opinion, this is the best he has written. Every chapter serves as an excellent introduction the to specific “golden ages” and what made them possible. At the same time, the general message is crystal clear, it’s openness to the world, trade, democracy and scientific progress that makes societies flourish. Something that we constantly need to remind our self of (especially in times of protectionism and belief that tough leaders alone can solve our problems).

[adeline Bronner · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a piketttyan, you might want to avoir that book. If you are liberal it’s definitely something you wish to read. Well documented and historically diverse, it gave a large view of whathuman societies have been able to offer when liberalism and open mindedness were well established. In Greece, Rome, with Abassids and the Songs, the Dutch and the Anglo American dominion wherever these principles were followed, progresses and innovations allowed social and human betterment.
One thing though, the author avoids the ecological side of History, might have been interesting to see how this factor would affect the liberal moment that seems to die slowly in this XXIst century.

[Arjen Taselaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book five stars for the enthusiasm with which it was written. The author treats several periods in human history that he regards as golden ages. It is actually a book about openness - to the free movement of goods, persons and, above all I think, ideas - and how openness comes to an end. It gives his books coherence, though the argument runs the risk of becoming circular. But it is presented clearly and convincingly, as a contribution to an urgent debate in a world where openness is increasingly regarded as a threat and people turn to authoritarianism, from which, as this book eloquently demonstrates, nothing good can be expected.

[Maria Odijk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een reis door de geschiedenis van verschillende "gouden" tijdperken. Beginnend bij de Grieken en eindigend bij het Britse en Amerikaanse imperium. Goed geschreven met uitgebreide aandacht voor de Islam en de Chinese geschiedenis (het Song tijdperk). Maar de schrijver ontkomt toch niet aan zijn voorkeur voor het westerse patroon. Vooral in het laatste stuk over Amerika had hij voor mij wel wat kritischer mogen zijn. (hij noemt ergens wel de invasie in Oekraine, dus had ook het Trump gedoe wel mee kunnen nemen.)

Maar er zitten veel moie inzichten in dit boek, vooral zijn pleidooi voor globalisatie, openheid en vrij verkeer sprak mij aan.

[Misrab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for all humans to learn about our common global civilisational heritage.

Masterfully written - feels like a light read when in fact it is rich in information. Historical patterns are eloquently distilled.

The Greeks; the Romans; the Abbasids; the Song; the Italian Renaissance; the Dutch; and the Anglosphere. It's a lot of history for one book, and the last chapter in particular feels a tad rushed and certainly overly idealistic I think. But nonetheless brilliant overall.

[Tiago Teixeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Johan Norberg does not fail to impress and amaze. I have read now two of his books and are essential and amazing to understand the present, by speaking of the past and inquiring ourselves of the future.

Peak human ventures into the six golden ages that the author selected. How they rose and how they fell. It allows us to see what were the elements that inspired them to rise higher and the causes of their downfall.

It gives us the tools to analyze the present and see what paths do we want to course.

Will we follow the Athenian openness mindset or isolate ourselves as the Spartans?

[Anders Tempelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just because you know and understand a lot of things, that doesn’t make you a writer. This book is filled with interesting insights and knowledge, but fails to engage. It reads like a textbook and a good editor should have taken away a lot of the fluff and sidetracks. I’d prefer if the pod The Rest is History would haven taken this topic. Two historians who also master the art of good storytelling.

[Dakota Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book although it was understandably light if know much about the histories it goes into. I can see this being a better book for people with less background knowledge. Nonetheless the framing of downward trend facing the Anglosphere is well thought out and they makes a solid argument for their solution with is basically an antithesis to the trend towards xenophobia and protectionism (hint it hasn't worked in the past)

[Sophy Smythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eyeopener.
Of course I knew about the big civilisations like the Greeks, Romans, Abbasids and of course The Dutch Republic. What I didn't know was that in all cases openness was the key for flourishing and that the death blow to the golden ages was always rejected innovation, trade and mobility.
I think about our time.
In this trade war, where are we going to?

[Imene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peak Human, Johan Norberg lays out his recipe for a “golden age”: rule of law, inclusivity, and a refusal to bow to orthodoxy. He walks through the Roman Empire, Abbasids, Song China, the Dutch Republic, and the Anglosphere, arguing these traits drove prosperity. I can get on board for most of these examples—except the U.S. It’s hard to reconcile America’s so-called golden age with its history of slavery and Native dispossession. Norberg treats the U.S. as an open, inclusive society, but that inclusivity was never for everyone. The pattern works for Song China or the Dutch, but it feels stretched thin when applied to America

[Jorge Bunster Betteley · Rating 5 out of 5]

never ending golden age?

A fascinating review of human civilization’s peak performances through history , their ascension and inexorably, their fall. A learning experience looking at what took then there and what took them down, to finally wonder on our present era, certainly an outstanding peak in human development that has lasted 200 years, and reflect if we are still to thrive or are we starting our decline.
A truly enlightening read.

[Aster An-Sofie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredibly interesting and makes me think even more about where our own society is headed... I realize that I am just a small part of the big picture that is the world - a small part of mankind. Somewhere in space and time every last one of us is but a small dot. And yet, even your name can end up in a book like this one.

[Tobias · Rating 5 out of 5]

To me this book is four stars as I can't follow all the nuances in the English version but I am very sure the book deserves five stars and I am looking forward to the Swedish version. Interesting and highly enjoyable reading.

[Andrew Kaldor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about this book is the historical details of each age discussed. The explanatory framework, based on the benefits of open societies, is repeated in each age, which becomes very tedious. The narrative becomes interesting when the unique history of each epoch is explored.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable and informative. The message provided is very relevant in today's world.
Highly recommended.

[Frank Lindt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relevant and full of historic nuggets. Really enjoyed how the author shapes his arguments through the lens of history and draws lessons from it for those living in the here and now.

[funcke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biased, but also the non-biased do agree: this is a great expose of historical golden eras, and how human nature tends to end them.