Published by Allen Lane, £25
The idea of a secret cabal pulling the levers of power is a staple of conspiracy theorists everywhere. Such claims are usually exaggerated but Niall Ferguson argues in his new book that they reveal an underlying truth about both society and the economy.
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Ferguson claims that "historians have paid too little attention to networks of all kinds", says Anthony Gottlieb in The Guardian. So he "wants to find a middle way' between mainstream historians, who have, he thinks, underestimated the role of informal associations, and the conspiracy theorists who exaggerate the significance of such networks".
The Square and the Tower is only partially successful in doing this, says David Aaronovitch in The Times. That's because it feels like two books: "the one it claims to be, but for various reasons isn't, and the better and more important one that starts more than two thirds of the way through". That second part "is a hugely insightful examination of how the internet is shaping and disrupting the hierarchies and structures of our world".
In contrast, the earlier section, which focuses on famous historical networks is an "oddity" because Ferguson "simply refuses to stay with any one example long enough to convince this reader of his arguments".
"This approach is engaging but not always helpful," agrees Tim Harford in the Financial Times. "It is unclear that we gain much by describing Pizarro's conquistadors and their allies as a network opposing Atahualpa's hierarchical Inca society". Another problem is that while Ferguson cites an impressive range of social-science research papers he "does not always trouble to explain technical terms as a skilled science writer might".
All told, this means that "one is left with the impression that he is happy to list every tool in the toolkit but doesn't actually want to pick up a spanner himself".
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