SKU: 28662253758

The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook

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The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to FacebookThe instant New York Times bestseller. 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. "Captivating and compelling." The New York Times "Niall Ferguson has again written a brilliant book In 400 pages you will have restocked your mind. Do it." The Wall Street Journal "The Square and the Tower, in addition to being provocative

The instant New York Times bestseller.

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.

"Captivating and compelling." --The New York Times

"Niall Ferguson has again written a brilliant book...In 400 pages you will have restocked your mind. Do it." --The Wall Street Journal

"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

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.
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SKU: 28662253758

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Sunny in AZ
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
Great price for a great product
Color: Coal Black
Excellent quality and great price to boot. Easy to assemble and folds up easily to be stored. We are using it as a privacy screen when we have company that needs to sleep on the couch and also to block off a hallway leading to a guest suite. It looks great and is as described in the ad
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Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2025
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Carissa L
Port Orchard, US
★★★★★ 1
No.
Color: Coal Black, Color: Coal Black
This was horribly made and a nightmare to put together. You have to basically bend the bars to get the coverings attached. The sizes don't match. The stickers that label the parts are impossible to remove and if you do get them off theres a lot of residue left behind. On top of that once it was put together I noticed theres a big dirty foot print on it which is definitely not mine.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2026
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Duckie mom
Lake Worth, US
★★★★★ 3
You have to add weight to it
Color: Coal Black
It does its job and it was easy to put together but it's a little on the flimsy side and it will easily be knocked down. So you're going to have to figure out a way to make the legs heavier? I used cinder blocks, single cinder blocks and it works just fine. Just know that it will knock over super easy
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Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2026
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Oneida P
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
The snap to put them together.
Color: Coal Black
This came in handy in the foyer. I didn’t want to see the door from my couch. I must be weak found it hard to snap them together. I kept 2 my daughter took the other 2.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2026
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Jennifer Cal
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 5
I have 2!
Color: Coal Black
My office is in my loft. But there are things along the wall I don’t want to look at. These work great. Hides what I don’t want to see & is a classy look in the room. Sturdy, easy to assemble, well made.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2026

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