The Great Leveler

Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century

By: Walter Scheidel

Narrated by: Joel Richards

Are mass violence and catastrophes the only forces that can seriously decrease economic inequality? To judge by thousands of years of history, the answer is yes. Tracing the global history of inequality from the Stone Age to today, Walter Scheidel shows that inequality never dies peacefully. Inequality declines when carnage and disaster strike and increases when peace and stability return. The Great Leveler is the first book to chart the crucial role of violent shocks in reducing inequality over the full sweep of human history around the world.

Ever since humans began to farm, herd livestock, and pass on their assets to future generations, economic inequality has been a defining feature of civilization. Over thousands of years, only violent events have significantly lessened inequality. The "Four Horsemen" of leveling - mass-mobilization warfare, transformative revolutions, state collapse, and catastrophic plagues - have repeatedly destroyed the fortunes of the rich.

Scheidel identifies and examines these processes, from the crises of the earliest civilizations to the cataclysmic world wars and communist revolutions of the 20th century. Today, the violence that reduced inequality in the past seems to have diminished, and that is a good thing. But it casts serious doubt on the prospects for a more equal future.

©2017 Princeton University Press (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Sweeping and provocative." ( New Yorker)

A depressing but informative read

As the author states quite clearly this shouldn't be the end-all-be-all when discussing information on this topic but it certainly a substantial addition to a field that is currently lacking in such intellectual rigor.

The more society attempts to control nature, the more nature resists that same control.

I would love to hear perspective of this concept AFTER the COVID pandemic. What changed, how did it change, and how will we proceed…

Fascinating and astonishingly broad

A truly universal history of inequality from prehuman beginnings to around 2015. An astonishing feat of scholarship based on a huge amount of earlier research by other scholars. Unsentimental and devoid of wishful thinking. Scheidel turns a cool analytical eye on the problem, and concludes that we should be careful what we wish for when we wish for greater income equality, because in the past, it has only been brought about through catastrophic suffering and death.

Spot On

Extremely relevant to today's world. It poses the question of if inequality is inevitable, and if it is what can we do about it. The book also provides a objective historical account of inequality, and how compression has occurred over time. a very interesting read indeed.

Amazing book that shows the inequality of the past

it was an amazing listen on the past present and future of inequality and the destabilization it causes. A bit pessimistic but realistic through and through.

As depressing as it is convincing

Mr Scheidel makes a controversial case - at least for those of us not well versed in this aspect of economics - and he makes it so convincingly that The Great Leveler is in fact a very dry read. Nonetheless the fundamental revelation (for that is what it is for me) about inequality and the forces conspiring to increase it, is powerful.

Both immense in scope and tragic.

This work is a terrific refutation of the egalitarian movements throughout history. The author shows that the only way inequality is truly ever leveled is by horrific events that bring mass casualties, massive property damage and mass famine. Not exactly a good track record for those who are still pushing that tired narrative of “equality of outcomes”.

Inequality is inevitable.

Inequality can not be laid at the feet of capitalism.
The four horseman of the past are not desired for the future.

Depressingly Essential

Nothing works but violence, and violence makes everyone suffer. The problem of inequality is unsolvable.

Important insights, tediously told

This book contains good scholarship that more people should be aware of. The last five chapters in particular were strong. The journey there however was often a mind numbing slog of data delivered through narrative and/or the minutiae of his anthropological efforts. The kinds of bonafides that matter primarily (exclusively?) to academics. In both cases, the forests (ie the last 5 chapters) weren’t seen for the trees. So have a go, but at 2x the speed until the later bits.