The Square and the Tower

Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook

By: Niall Ferguson

Narrated by: Elliot Hill

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

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.

©2018 Niall Ferguson (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Captivating and compelling. Whether describing the surprisingly ineffective 18th century network of the mysterious Illuminati that continue to be the subject of crank conspiracy theorists or the shockingly effective 20th century network of Cambridge University spies working for the Soviets, Ferguson manages both to tell a good story and provide important insight into the specific qualities that power successful networks.” (The New York Times)

“Remarkably interesting...always surprising and always thought-provoking in the places and entities it chooses to pause and examine, everything from the Mafia to the Soviet Union of Stalin.... The Square and the Tower, in addition to being provocative history, may prove to be a bellwether work of the Internet Age.” (Christian Science Monitor)

"Niall Ferguson has again written a brilliant book.... His short chapters are lucid snapshots of a world history of Towers and Squares, filled with gracefully deployed learning.... The Square and the Tower is always readable, intelligent, original. You can swallow a chapter a night before sleep and your dreams will overflow with scenes of Stendhal’s The Red and the Black, Napoleon, Kissinger. In 400 pages you will have restocked your mind. Do it." (The Wall Street Journal)

Flawed but entertaining and thought provoking

Others have pointed out this is not thorough enough to be considered a historical reference and I agree. However if taken as a entertaining and thought provoking means of changing the readers paradigm regarding several well known historical events then I think it succeeds. There is a lot left out of this book to be sure, but in simplifying the network/ hierarchies, their components, and effects, it makes it accessible to people like me. In my experience this is what Ferguson does well.

Outstanding, dense and engaging!

Nial Ferguson is perhaps my favorite modern day historian and he never fails to deliver a vivid picture of his writing.

Good history but...

... but the author never extrapolates on the effects of each of the networks he highlights throughout the book.

Leaves you hungry for more insight.

Average Niall

One inch of depth on a defining topic. Niall is a literary Lamphrey on the Great White of events. His wit is better suited to morning shows than long form—which he tends to squander with repetition and consensus conclusions. Listen on 2.5x — 3x, you won’t miss anything useful.

Niall F. develops brilliant insights into patterns of history

Whether you agree exactly with every element of his thesis, this book is a tour de force of the application of socio-historical understanding and interpretation to the analysis and assessment of broad contemporary trends. This work helps the reader developer the skills associated with strategic pattern and policy analysis that’s applicable today.

I had the privilege of meeting Prof. Ferguson once in Cambridge and observing his thoughtful and incisive thinking.

Not always clear structure, *terrible* narration

This is one of Ferguson's longer works, and much if it is very interesting: the networks of the Illuminati, Freemasonry in the Revolutionary War period, and his return to Kissinger are very well-handled. The over-arching thread between hierarchy and network is not always clear, and the earlier parts feel like a book report of work Ferguson has read on network theory, and are labored. However, even when not at his best, Ferguson writes extremely well, and that introduction to network theory notwithstanding, he is sharp and not boring. The book is particularly helped by its strong conclusions, leaving a satisfying finish.

The narration by Elliot Hill however is terrible. He is British, as of course is Ferguson, but perhaps feels that for his audience "Moscow" to rhyme with "cow" is less jarring, though I would prefer that people pronounce things in a way that is consistent with their accent. If that were the only one, I would not pile on, as it is both minor and a matter of preference. But his repeated pronunciation errors - in any accent in English - were so annoying that when I could remember them, I noted down these, which were either wrong, or spoken as if in Italian:
Robert Burns' poetry
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Keiretsu
Modena
Westphalia / Westphalian
Copenhagen
Canton
Buccleuch
Kirkcaldy
(Mario) Puzo
Consigliere
Apulia
Omerta
Youths
Che Guevara
Hegemony

What was worse was that every time a word our phrase came up that was consequential, I think in his view, you could hear the metaphorical quotation marks being put around it with a little pause beforehand: cod solemnity, somewhat reminiscent of local news readers switching gear to talk about a fatal accident - every time. Taken with the mispronunciations it was only the fact that the material was interesting that got me through this. If you are on the fence, honestly I would say it is worth reading, but unless you are very patient skip the audio version and pick it up on Kindle or on paper.

an interesting, but slowly developing storyline

in contrast to other people, i didn't find disturbing the narrator - he was all right. however, only chance to not die out of boredom, is to listen on 1,4 playback speed.
like with many books, this one said the most in the 1/3 of the book. nevertheless, for those who like history, it's worth to listen. it would have been great if there were some bullet points at the end of each chapter, otherwise it's hard to extract the key thoughts of what he tries to illustrate with the examples.

You did not understand modern history before this

What did you love best about The Square and the Tower?

There is a clear line that is drawn through modern history that illuminates the processes that brought us to where we are today. Great Book. Better than his work on the history of money.

What other book might you compare The Square and the Tower to and why?

The history of money

What three words best describe Elliot Hill’s performance?

good but not great.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was surprised at what i did not know

Ambitious idea that fell short in execution

An ambitious but uneven exploration of networks throughout history. While Ferguson's core thesis about the interplay between hierarchical power (towers) and social networks (squares) is intriguing, the execution falls short. The narrative jumps erratically between historical periods, rarely dwelling long enough to provide meaningful depth. What could have been fascinating case studies often feel like superficial name-dropping.

The book's scattered approach is particularly challenging in audio format, where the constant shifts between examples and time periods become disorienting. While Ferguson's credentials are impressive and some insights are valuable, the work would have benefited from a more focused and methodical analysis.

A decent introduction to the concept of historical networks, but lacks the depth and coherence one might expect from a historian of Ferguson's caliber.

Social networks in history

Ferguson is a good story teller. Fascinating look into social network impacts on history. Good companion to other popular reading in sociology.