Diary of a Madman and Other Stories

by Nikolai Gogol
Diary of a Madman and Other Stories cover
Good Books rating 4.33
Technical
  • ID: 5691
  • Added: 2025-10-24
  • Updated: 2025-10-24
  • Reviews: 3
Reviews
audiofilemagazine.com · Unknown · 2025-10-24
intriguing 4.50

James C. Scott challenges the traditional narrative of human progress from hunter-gatherers to farmers, presenting a counter-narrative that highlights the negative impacts of agriculture. The book argues that domestication and sedentism preceded agriculture, and that early states revolved around grains due to their taxability and measurability.

In _Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States_, James C. Scott challenges the conventional view of human progress from hunter-gatherers to farmers. He presents a compelling counter-narrative that highlights the negative impacts of agriculture on human health and society. Scott argues that domestication and sedentism preceded agriculture, and that early states revolved around grains due to their taxability and measurability. The book also explores the epidemiological costs of agriculture, including the spread of diseases from farm animals to humans. Despite these costs, the transition to agriculture and state formation occurred for reasons that are still not fully understood. Scott's work provides a nuanced and thought-provoking perspective on the earliest states and the complex factors that shaped human history.

Quick quotes

    Scott tackles this subject from many angles, summarising accumulating archaeological and historical evidence to provide a fine counter-narrative.

    The idea that domestication led to sedentism and agriculture is outdated.

    Scott highlights the striking observation that all early states revolve around grains (wheat, barley, rice and maize).

app.thestorygraph.com · Unknown · 2025-10-24
thought-provoking 4.50

The reviewer praises James C. Scott's 'Against the Grain' for its deep historical analysis of early states, challenging traditional narratives and emphasizing the fragility and oppressive nature of these states. The book is well-researched and thought-provoking, offering insights into the diversity of subsistence strategies and nonstate communities.

James C. Scott's 'Against the Grain' is a well-researched and thought-provoking book that delves into the deep history of early states, challenging traditional narratives about the origins and benefits of state formation. The reviewer highlights Scott's compelling arguments about the fragility and oppressive nature of early states, which were often unhealthy and coercive. The book emphasizes the diversity of subsistence strategies and the agency of nonstate communities, counterbalancing neo-evolutionary views that see states as an automatic and desirable 'good'. Scott's work is praised for its insightful discussion and enjoyable readability, making it ideal for both nonspecialist readers and professionals interested in state formation and the relationships between people and states.

Quick quotes

    The book is well researched, thought-provoking in its discussion, and enjoyable to read.

    Scott offers compelling insights into how novel and rare ancient states were and how unhealthy and oppressive they could be, as well as how fragile.

    It is an effective counterpoint to views of civilization and states as an automatic and desirable 'good' and the result of 'progress' through multiple discrete stages of development, which diffused from zones of civilization to less developed barbarians, who would inevitably want to adopt this new lifestyle.

goodreads.com · Unknown · 2025-10-24
critical 4.00

The book challenges the narrative of state formation as progress, arguing that early states were built on violence and led to a decline in living standards. It encourages critical interrogation of state institutions and their supposed inevitability and neutrality.

James C. Scott's 'Against the Grain' challenges the traditional narrative of state formation as a progression of human civilization. The book argues that early states were built on violence and often led to a decline in living standards. It suggests that the shift to agriculture was harmful, making people more vulnerable to disease and less well-nourished. The book also contends that states arose in ecologically rich areas where they could immobilize and administrate populations for taxation and conscription. Despite its insights, the book's political significance is somewhat elusive, as it does not provide a complete explanation for the rise of the early state.

Quick quotes

    Scott considers much of this narrative false. Sedentism does not have its origins in plant and animal domestication.

    The shift to agriculture was in some respects also harmful.

    State survival depends on the ability to immobilise and administrate populations so that they can be recorded, measured, taxed, conscripted and enslaved.

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