In this book, Ferguson presents the evolution of credit and debt as being as important as any technological innivation in the rise of modern civilization, explaninng how an asset bubble may have fueled the French Revolution, turned rich countries into poor one (and vice versa), and may be the foundation of progress, and conflict, as we know it.

Bernstein’s book is an exploration of the role of risk in our society, arguing that understanding risk is one of the central concepts distinguishing the modern age from the past.

In these two books, Taleb explores the role of chance, or randomness, in our lives, with particular interest paid to the financial consequences of chance, and our inability to properly predict these events (The Black Swan), and our desire to apply causality “after the fact” (Fooled by Randomness).