Faith's Reviews > Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis

“Successful coping with either external or internal pressure requires selective change. That’s as true of nations as of individuals.” The author describes and compares crises and selective changes, over the course of several decades, in Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, Australia and the United States. He has a theory (12 factors associated with the resolution of national crises) and he bends each of his samples to fit into that theory. He selected those countries because in most cases he had lived there at some point. One of my problems with the book is that it doesn’t seem like a very rigorous way to select a research sample and I was also put off by the fact that a lot of his research consisted of his questioning his friends and relatives.

I stuck with this book until the bitter end, but it took me forever. This was too dry for me: “Finland is thus the first of our two examples of countries experiencing a crisis due to a sudden external shock. In the next chapter, on Meiji-Era Japan, we shall discuss another country with strong national identity and a distinctive language, much more distinctive culturally then Finland, and with even more drastic selective change, and with outstanding realism like Finland’s but with a different geopolitical situation that permitted Japan to pursue a long-term strategy more independent than Finland’s.” I can see it as a textbook for a class, but frankly I would have dropped this course in college. I am really not in a position to assess whether or not his interpretation of events is correct. Thankfully, I am no longer in school and will not be tested on this material, but he reminded me of professors who had been teaching for decades from the same yellowing pages of notes. I’m afraid this book was not for me. I’ve rounded 2.5 stars up to 3.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.