“Vanished Kingdoms” by Norman Davies

Note: My notes here are a poor representation of the vastness of this book. It was like a who’s who of Europe over the past millennia.

• Much of historical grandeur is in posturing, not fact
• “Nothing succeeds like success”
• People are slowest to drop language for their numbers and their prayers
• “Borough” means “fort”
• Culture shifts with power
• Culture, education, and commerce go hand-in-hand
• Medieval countries were more like corporate brands than they were governments
• Modernization cannot guarantee survival of the state
• “Cassock” is adventurer in Turkish
• Nations and states sometimes bang out and sometimes fizzle out
• The oldest ones keep reinventing themselves