Introduction -- The human hive -- The Darwinian economy -- The landscape of law -- Civil and uncivil societies -- Conclusion
Summary
One of the great puzzles of history is how best to explain the fate of nations - the wheel of fortune that raises up some and throws down others. There are a bewildering range of explanations, mostly contradicting one another, and embracing everything from climate to resources, from technology to plain luck. All societies are linked however by perhaps the most remarkable, tangled and elaborate of human inventions - the institutions that hold us together
Notes
"Based on the BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures 2012"--Book jacket
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 153-172)