Not recommended. It is a mediocre theory that seriously overfit data from the mid-90’s and has led to some really problematic ideas and policies since. For a much more nuanced perspective on the role of civilizations on the current state of global affairs, try World 3.0 by Pankaj Ghemawat.
I made the mistake of starting season 4 before all the episodes were out, then realized that I could just continue with the books. No more productivity next week.
Perhaps the highest enjoyment/word ratio of any book I’ve read.
The ideas were great, and the pseudophilosophy was fun. Actually I found myself bored in the action sequences that seemed to jar with the more contemplative nature of the rest of the book.
I tried but did not crack the PM interview. This book was not nearly as useful as cracking the coding interview. There is useful info about the processes in different interviews, but I found the shorter strategies found in Decode and Conquer to be more useful.
The sum was less than the parts. A lot of great information about the culture of Exxon, it’s two most prominent CEO’s Raymond and Tillerson, and a lot of great tidbits about how the oil industry worked. I actually finished the book with a higher (but still negative) opinion of Exxon than when I started. Exxon seems to be the company version of a crotchety old grandpa: he says what he thinks, does a few things that are not at all appropriate in today’s society, but wins every family game of scrabble and rubs it in afterwards. ...
It was probably competent, but I didn’t enjoy it. Lots of politics, it felt too much like an allegory of American politics in the 21st century. One thing I enjoyed about Lost Stars was that it made no attempt to interact with the films, and instead took a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern approach to the canon. I assume Bloodline had to operate within clear boundaries of what could and could not be written about, and suffered for it. For all of Disney’s billions, it seems like nobody has taken the time to establish a universe with politics and economies that make sense.
As a visa officer in Riyadh after 9/11, I figured this book was required reading. (And it was handed out in our consular training course) But from the analysis related to my line of work, I found it to be surface level, and offered very little strategic thinking into the fixes necessary to enhance security.
As it was number two in the series, I hoped for some more interesting or advanced content. I was disappointed. Texts a still boring, essentially useless, and the explanations are not very helpful.
I used it for 朗读 practice. Texts are boring, there is not much content, and the level is definitely not advanced. Don’t waste your money.