Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Cash Nexus | 2001 | Niall Ferguson | Buy |
| 2 | Colossus | 2004 | Niall Ferguson | Buy |
| 3 | The Great Degeneration | 2012 | Niall Ferguson | Buy |
| 4 | The Square and the Tower | 2017 | Niall Ferguson | Buy |
| 5 | Is This the End of the Liberal International Order? | 2017 | Niall Ferguson | Buy |
Niall Ferguson’s Government series collects his books about political power, institutional decay, and the relationship between states and the networks that operate within them. The Cash Nexus (2001) examined how money has shaped political power from 1700 to the present. Colossus (2004) argued that the United States is an empire, whether it admits it or not, and that its refusal to accept that role creates serious problems.
The Great Degeneration (2012) asked why Western institutions, from democracy to the rule of law, appear to be weakening. The Square and the Tower (2017) was a New York Times bestseller that looked at the tension between hierarchies (towers) and networks (squares) throughout history, from the Freemasons to Facebook. Is This the End of the Liberal International Order? (2017) rounded out the collection by questioning whether the post-1945 international system could survive the political upheavals of the mid-2010s.