Physical Description |
xxvii, 563 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), color maps ; 25 cm. |
Note |
"First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Randon House UK"--T.P. verso. |
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 436-536) and index. |
Contents |
Preface: The networked historian -- Introduction: Networks and hierarchies -- Emperors and explorers -- Letters and lodges -- The restoration of hierarchy -- Knights of the Round Table -- Plagues and pipers -- Own the jungle -- The library of Babel -- Conclusion: Facing Cyberia. |
Summary |
Ferguson believes that hierarchical institutions create the archives that historians rely on, and historians are missing the informal, less well documented social networks that are the true sources of power and drivers of change. From the cults of ancient Rome to the dynasties of the Renaissance, from the founding fathers to Facebook, Ferguson examines the rise, fall and rise of networks, and shows how network theory-- concepts such as clustering, degrees of separation, weak ties, contagions and phase transitions-- can transform our understanding of both the past and the present. |
Subject |
Social networks -- History.
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