THE QUIET BEFORE: ON THE UNEXPECTED ORIGINS OF RADICAL IDEAS

This is an interesting book about ideas ("This book should be read by anyone interested in thinking" says one blurb) that helpfully is broken down into various easier to consume case studies. The book is not complete -- the first case is in the 17th Century and many are in the last decade or so -- but covers a lot of ground. I also found some chapters more interesting than others.

The first chapter covers a lesser known science minded sort that was particularly interested in longitude.  A key moment was to make sure various people from a range of locations observed the same event to help measure distances.  

Of special value here was not just printing, but a reliable and fairly quick postal system.  A book on Genghis Khan and the Mongols also cited their reliable postal roads.  

These two things allowed for a conversation as did someone who was able to properly engage with a range of people.  This goes to another matter addressed by others -- having certain people who are useful conduits.  

This was also seen in a 20th Century example, where an educated black intellectual used a newspaper in the British Gold Coast to form a community that could develop into an independent black nation.  Likewise, there was the samizdat, or self-publishing, as a means of resistance in Soviet Russia. 

A somewhat different issue was important -- though again having the right leadership mattered -- with the Chartist movement in 19th Century England. This was named after the "People's Charter," or a broad attempt to have the people use the old British right to petition to develop a sort of popular movement.  This would eventually develop into a strong enough interest to pressure the government and was a first step to wide suffrage.

The later chapters emphasized that there is an importance to some means to have a small scale community where ideas can truly develop. Something like Facebook or Twitter alone is too open ended, with protests at best being sudden expressions of dissent.  The problematic example of Egypt is flagged -- a bad leader resigns, but long term change is a lot harder.  

This small scale community of interest to flesh out ideas was present for good (COVID scientists) and bad (racists in 2017).  This is contrasted with a method of bring out discontent (the "futurists" in early 20th Century Italy, the Black Lives Matter protests) that expresses displeasure with the existing times but not necessarily being productive in the long run.

We also get a snapshot of the early days of what might be said to be the pre-Internet in the mid-1980s.  This includes a reminder that it wasn't just some free reign affair.  Shades of message of The Cult of the Constitution.  

One value of the book is that you get various snapshots through the ages and world, which helps inform you about things that many might not know much about.  I didn't really care about the futurists (who came off as assholes), but it was an interesting snapshot all the same.  And, when Mussolini popped, well there was also clear historical importance.  

I started to get more bored with the book in the last few chapters.  This might partially be me or that the situations were more familiar.  All the same, it was an interesting and very readable bit of intellectual history.  So, net success there.