I know what the premise of the book is (big topic, minimal page count) but for something as nuanced as democracy I would have appreciated more context behind the dry fact-telling.

The Shortest History series is the opposite of the Object Lessons Series. Objects Lessons takes a very narrow topic and, in a very short book, drills down into it often including an element of memoir or gonzo journalism. The Shortest History series cover really large topics, in relatively short volumes. In this case short is 277 pages. I really struggled to engage with this book, but I don't know if it was the broadness of the topic, my attention span this winter, or that the review book was only available through the NetGalley app - not able to be read on Kindle. I would not have requested it if I have realised that, since I really don't read well on my tablet. Which is all to say that I didn't finish it, but I don't really think it's the book's fault.

i was given this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I did not enjoy this book. I found the writing to be academic, not conversational. I would also describe the mood it set as flat. Sometimes the content was too detailed. I almost stopped reading a couple of times but tried to stick with it. But as the book neared the end it became ever more tiresome and I ended up not finishing. This is disappointing as I read “The shortest history …” books about China and about England and rated them as 5 star and 4 star, respectively. Thank you to Netgalley and The Experiment for the advance reader copy

In a short amount of space, John Keane is able to provide a detailed and nuanced history of different types of democracies and their strengths and weaknesses. Even more impressively, he is able to generate some pretty strong arguments that both dispel the myth that Greece created democracy along with the role of representative democracy and the future of democratic states. This might be too detailed as a primer for the subject, but if you want a short and well researched book on the topic, I would definitely recommend this book.

Short but by no means sparing in insights, research and analysis! This is a really useful history which is only too relevant as we see democracy challenged across the globe, I found the writing style very clear and pitched at a level which will suit all readers interested in this topic.