Dil’s review of The Black Book of Power > Likes and Comments

Frederick William I made schooling compulsory by edict in 1717, and Frederick the Great's regulation of 1763 built the system out properly. What 1806 marks is the defeat at Jena and the reform wave that followed it, when the existing schools were rebuilt into a national instrument aimed at producing a particular kind of citizen. The argument in that chapter rests on the second event.

Now the more expensive question, and I ask it because you clearly read carefully. A date got compressed, you caught it, and the catch became the reason to stop and rate the entirety of the work. Where else does that run?

Most people carrying a rule this exacting have a long record of things they walked away from at the first imperfection, and the rule always presents itself as 'standards.' It is the most respectable-sounding way a person stays where they are, and it never once feels like avoidance from the inside.

Wow. That reads like manipulation but... I like it 🤣 I think it's because you gilded it with flattery. Well played.