The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Davis
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By:
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Francis Fukuyama
About this listen
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions that included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or unable to function in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
Francis Fukuyama, author of the best-selling The End of History and The Last Man, and one of our most important political thinkers, provides a sweeping account of how today’s basic political institutions developed.
The first of a major two-volume work, The Origins of Political Order begins with politics among our primate ancestors and follows the story through the emergence of tribal societies, the growth of the first modern state in China, the beginning of the rule of law in India and the Middle East, and the development of political accountability in Europe up until the eve of the French Revolution.
Drawing on a vast body of knowledge—history, evolutionary biology, archaeology, and economics—Fukuyama has produced a brilliant, provocative work that offers fresh insights on the origins of democratic societies and raises essential questions about the nature of politics and its discontents.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©2011 Francis Fukuyama (P)2011 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Since its formation in 1861, Italy has struggled to develop an effective political system and a secure sense of national identity. Christopher Duggan's acclaimed introduction charts the country's history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West to the present day, and surveys the difficulties Italy has faced during the last two centuries in creating a unified country. Duggan successfully weaves together political, economic, social and cultural history, and stresses the alternation between materialist and idealist programs for forging a nation-state.
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Concise indeed
- By nikex on 03-22-21
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How Civilizations Die (and Why Islam Is Dying Too)
- By: David Goldman
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Past and present civilizations failed and fail for many reasons, but the number-one predictor of a civilization’s survival is its sense of religion—or lack thereof. So argues David Goldman in How Civilizations Die (and Why Islam Is Dying Too). The strength of a civilization’s religion affects its purpose, its fertility rate, and ultimately, its fate, says Goldman—who then argues that, contrary to popular belief, Islamic countries are in the last throes of death while Christian America is in a position to flourish.
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Pseudointellectual Clickbait
- By Sam on 12-22-20
By: David Goldman
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When China Rules the World
- The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order
- By: Martin Jacques
- Narrated by: Scott Peterson
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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According to even the most conservative estimates, China will overtake the United States as the world's largest economy by 2027 and will ascend to the position of world economic leader by 2050. But the full repercussions of China's ascendancy-for itself and the rest of the globe-have been surprisingly little explained or understood.
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Lucid explanation of global economic trends
- By David Blake on 01-04-10
By: Martin Jacques
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The Kurds: The History of the Middle Eastern Ethnic Group and Their Quest for Kurdistan
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Colin Fluxman
- Length: 1 hr and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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The Kurds: The History of the Middle Eastern Ethnic Group and Their Quest for Kurdistan examines the group and the contentious issues surrounding them. By delving deeper into their ethnic, religious, and political history, it is possible to understand the larger issues of statelessness and the striving for independence. At the same time, the relationships between the Kurds and the ruling regimes of the day have changed and altered the political landscape in the Middle East.
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Brief Historical Account but lacks depth.
- By Shadow Kurdi on 02-21-22
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The Balkans [Modern Library Chronicles]
- By: Mark Mazower
- Narrated by: Robert O'Keefe
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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In this fascinating work, winner of the Wolfson Prize for History Mark Mazower uncovers the history of the Balkans with detail and clarity. He explores the reasons for current conflicts and examines the Balkans as a religious, cultural, and economic melting pot for Europe and Asia. Through Robert O'Keefe's articulate narration, listeners will be absorbed by this rich world.
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Thorough History...
- By David on 09-30-05
By: Mark Mazower
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A People’s History of the World
- From the Stone Age to the New Millennium
- By: Chris Harman
- Narrated by: Napoleon Ryan
- Length: 29 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Chris Harman describes the shape and course of human history as a narrative of ordinary people forming and re-forming complex societies in pursuit of common human goals. Interacting with the forces of technological change as well as the impact of powerful individuals and revolutionary ideas, these societies have engendered events familiar to every schoolchild-from the empires of antiquity to the world wars of the 20th century. In a bravura conclusion, Chris Harman exposes the reductive complacency of contemporary capitalism.
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Oh God avoid
- By Robert on 03-28-18
By: Chris Harman
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Russia in Revolution
- An Empire in Crisis, 1890 to 1928
- By: S. A. Smith
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The Russian Revolution of 1917 transformed the face of the Russian empire, politically, economically, socially, and culturally and also profoundly affected the course of world history for the rest of the 20th century. Historian S. A. Smith presents a panoramic account of the history of the Russian empire, from the last years of the 19th century, through the First World War and the revolutions of 1917 and the establishment of the Bolshevik regime, to the end of the 1920s.
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Excellent centenary look at the complete revolutio
- By Privet on 09-13-18
By: S. A. Smith
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Asabiyyah
- What Ibn Khaldun, the Islamic Father of Social Science, Can Teach Us About the World Today
- By: Ed West
- Narrated by: P. J. Ochlan
- Length: 1 hr and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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A quarter of a century after the end of Communism swept away the ideological conflict of the "short 20th century", a new world is once again taking shape, this time in the Middle East. But what does the crisis in the region, and its refugee exodus into Europe, signify for the future of the world? And why has the noble dream of nation-building failed? Focusing mainly on religion, ideology or economics, most analysis ignored one crucial factor: asabiyyah, or group feeling, something outlined six and a half centuries ago.
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good contrast
- By Antonio on 09-05-16
By: Ed West
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The Sovereign Individual
- Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
- By: James Dale Davidson, Peter Thiel - preface, William Rees-Mogg
- Narrated by: Michael David Axtell
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Two renowned investment advisors and authors of the best seller The Great Reckoning bring to light both currents of disaster and the potential for prosperity and renewal in the face of radical changes in human history as we move into the next century. The Sovereign Individual details strategies necessary for adapting financially to the next phase of Western civilization.
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Unfortunately distopian for mosty of humanity
- By Phil on 09-29-20
By: James Dale Davidson, and others
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How Europe Underdeveloped Africa
- By: Walter Rodney, Angela Y. Davis - foreword
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Guyanese intellectual Walter Rodney emerged as one of the leading thinkers and activists of the anticolonial revolution. In 1980, shortly after founding of the Working People's Alliance in Guyana, the 38-year-old Rodney would be assassinated. In his magnum opus, Rodney incisively argues that grasping "the great divergence" between the West and the rest can only be explained as the exploitation of the latter by the former. This meticulously researched analysis of the repercussions of European colonialism in Africa remains an indispensable study for grasping global inequality today.
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A Superb must read for everyone
- By Joy on 04-16-19
By: Walter Rodney, and others
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Simply no book quite like this
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The Lost History of Liberalism
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The Lost History of Liberalism challenges our most basic assumptions about a political creed that has become a rallying cry - and a term of derision - in today's increasingly divided public square. Taking listeners from ancient Rome to today, Helena Rosenblatt traces the evolution of the words "liberal" and "liberalism", revealing the heated debates that have taken place over their meaning. In this timely and provocative book, Rosenblatt debunks the popular myth of liberalism as a uniquely Anglo-American tradition centered on individual rights.
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Educative and informative
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What listeners say about The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mr Conway
- 01-24-12
The best political history I've ever read
I have only good things to say about this book and it's narration. Fukuyama sets out to write a history of Political order and the developments of the core parts of the state and achieves this goal definitively.
I thought the pace was excellent, as was the narrative progression. It moved freely yet logically between the micro and the macro perspectives. It even manages aptly walk the line between too much and too little background information for the various topics, institutions and regions, which could not have been easy given the subject's breadth.
For me, this was one of the books that subtly adjust my understanding of not just the subject matter on the page, but also of a range of other areas and disciplines as well.
I HIghly recommend this book to anyone interested in Politics, History, or virtually any other area of Non-Fiction.
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48 people found this helpful
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- Matthew
- 12-18-15
Give it two goes.
It seems repetitive and disorderly, but once you've gotten through it the first time the second pass knits the complicated bits together.
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3 people found this helpful
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- brelijah
- 04-15-16
Good Book
Good naration. Very enlightening content . Put together well so the information was a pleasure to absorb rather than a burden to understand. Good job all around!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Joseph
- 05-25-18
Pretty interesting overall
A lot of interesting ideas, but I was not a huge fan of the structure and flow of the book.
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- Jonathan Love
- 07-25-18
Fantastic and Essential Information For All...
...who desire to opine about politics.
It seems that everyone is a pundit these days thanks to social media. Not only that, but everyone is an expert and anyone who disagrees with said person, has egregiously violated the sanctity of humanity. Too often we refuse to take a seat and listen, adhering to Twain's aphorism, 'It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt' which is the main cause of our deleterious civil discourse. After this book, I firmly believe if you haven't read it than you shouldn't open your mouth, and if you have, you know enough to realize you don't know anything.
This history of political order covers some unique history - that I wasn't even aware existed - and correlates the existence of social and religious institutions with the advent of government. It gives a "why" to the origins rather than just "it happened".
I will definitely be listening to this one multiple times and will probably get the kindle edition to supplement my studies. Additionally there is a Volume II so be prepared to get that as well.
I usually listen at 3x speed and had no issues with this narration.
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- John
- 09-27-14
Mostly awesome, distracting narration.
The book itself is great fun to have listened to, even if it was busy enough I'll probably revisit it before too long.
The major problem I had was with the narration, specifically with the word 'political'. As would be expected, that's one of the more frequent words in the book and very nearly every single time the narrator paused, then rushed through it and maybe the next word. This is obvious in the sample. He also has a less pronounced habit of saying some other, frequent, multisyllabic words as though they had to fit in the same amount of time as shorter ones, but that didn't distract so much as the 'political' issue.
I made the mistake of noticing this early and it stayed distracting through the entire 22 hours.
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- Clark C. Corwin
- 05-08-16
Fundamentals for political understanding <br />
Fundamentals for political understanding. Very thorough mapped history of the courses of politics. Very long.
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- Kris A. Marie
- 02-21-17
Superb!! Understandable!! Important read!!
This superbly understandable and temporally important book is accessible to all. In the United States the political environment for democracy is on the downturn and Francis Fukuyama has helped me to understand what is going on. This should be required reading for all high school seniors! Everybody else needs to read it too in order to have a true understanding of what it means to be part of society across the board.
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- NebSoilDoc
- 09-19-16
Must read if interested in world affairs
What made the experience of listening to The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution the most enjoyable?
The hypothesis that is presented is explained in detail with many examples.
What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
This is a clear narrative of non-fiction. It probably would be much more tedious without an excellent reader.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Every citizen needs to read/listen to the beginning and the end of this book to realize how our nation state, with all its problems, is so much more functional than most of the rest of the world.
Any additional comments?
This book gave me new appreciation for the role of the church in the development of western Europe.
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Overall
- Budha
- 09-23-17
Dogma dissolver!!
My dogma free bleed to death nicked by mirror Francis held about our past through his insight.
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