Civilization

“[Ferguson] uses his powerful narrative talents in these pages to give the reader a highly tactile sense of history. . . . The author [has a] knack for making long-ago events as vivid and visceral as the evening news, for weaving anecdotes and small telling details together with a wide-angled retrospective vision.” —New York Times

“A dazzling history of Western ideas.” —The Economist

“Mr. Ferguson tells his story with characteristic verve and an eye for the felicitous phrase.” —Wall Street Journal

“[W]ritten with vitality and verve . . . a tour de force.” —Boston Globe

“This is sharp. It feels urgent. Ferguson, with a properly financially literate mind, twists his knife with great literary brio . . . Ferguson ends by suggesting the biggest threat is not China but ourselves—our cowardice, drawn from ignorance, even stupidity, about our past. He is right. But as he shows himself, that can be fixed.” —The Financial Times

“The author boldly takes on 600 years of world events . . . so that the history lesson remains fresh and compelling . . . A richly informed, accessible history lesson.” —Kirkus (starred review)