Nations are not trapped by their pasts, but events that happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago continue to exert huge influence on present-day politics. If we are to understand the politics that we now take for granted, we need to understand its origins. Francis Fukuyama examines the paths that different societies have taken to reach their current forms of political order. This book starts with the very beginning of mankind and comes right up to the eve of the French and American revolutions, spanning such diverse disciplines as economics, anthropology and geography. The Origins of Political Order is a magisterial study on the emergence of mankind as a political animal, by one of the most eminent political thinkers writing today

Review
Fukuyama remains as prominent as ever

Elegant, honest, persuasive ... he attacks his former academic allies and friends ... with a relentless and awesome force

It should be read by every democrat - and every dictator.

Thoroughly worthwhile ... [the book] will give many thoughtful people a sensible path forward

This is that rare work of history with up-to-the-minute relevance

No longer the neocon of former days, Fukuyama seems a more flexible and discerning thinker, and as always, his mastery of the literature is daunting. This exceptional book should be in every library

Sweeping, provocative big-picture study of humankind's political impulses ... Endlessly interesting - reminiscent at turns of Oswald Spengler, Stanislaw Andreski and Samuel Huntington, though less pessimistic and much better written

Societies that learn from mistakes rather than punish them have an inherent resilience...It is confirmed by this ambitious work.

Francis Fukuyama is the author of The End of History , The Great Disruption , Our Posthuman Future, State Building and After the Neocon. All have been international bestsellers, translated and published in many languages. They have also been hugely influential. Fukuyama is in constant demand around the world in the media and as a speaker. He is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford.