Absolutely loved the beginning. It's a fantastic view of history through the lense of governance, with many stops to help understand the background and connections. E.g. how monarchy pushback in England helped drive democracy in America. The book also has millions of very interesting little anecdotes. The author says this is the material for a course, and I think this book would greatly benefit from pointers of what to read, and when to go in what level of detail. Without it, the book seemed at times too detailed without purpose (or I missed it). I think I'll go back to it via the index if I want to read more, but I ended up choosing specific sections and leaving big sections unread.