I summarise non-fiction books with more detail and critical analysis than you'll find elsewhere. Join my newsletter to get new summaries delivered straight to your inbox!
July monthly round-up
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I skipped June's monthly update because I only posted one summary, so I'll make up for that here. Since my last update in May, I posted 3 book summaries and 1 blog post: Book summaries
Blog posts
I'm partway through a summary of Joseph Henrich's fascinating but very long book, The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous (even its title is long!). I hope to publish that next week. Thanks for subscribing! Until next time, To Summarise |
ToSummarise.com
I summarise non-fiction books with more detail and critical analysis than you'll find elsewhere. Join my newsletter to get new summaries delivered straight to your inbox!
It's been a while since my last summary and newsletter. Since I'm not publishing as often, I'm only sending out the newsletter quarterly for the time being (instead of monthly) - just an FYI. Anyway, I've published a new summary: Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. They won a Nobel Prize in 2024 for their work arguing that institutions are key to understanding why some nations succeed and others fail. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary...
My latest summary is for Seeing Like A State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C Scott. The book explores how states simplify and standardize complex societies to make them “legible” to distant rulers. In doing so, the state ends up reshaping reality to fit its narrow view. As usual, the key takeaways are below, and you can find the full summary by clicking the link above. KEY TAKEAWAYS States try hard to make their subjects legible: State power is...
In the past, I've sent monthly updates, but I haven't been publishing enough in the past several months for that. So you're getting a quarterly update instead for now. This quarter, I posted only 1 book summary and 1 blog post: Book summaries Essentialism by Greg McKeown (23 mins). This can be a useful read, if you're feeling a bit overwhelmed and hoping to get your priorities straight heading into 2026. You've probably heard much of the advice before, but I still find I need the reminder...