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Rating: 
Summary: Fresh look in historical processes
Review: A new approach to the history of the last 1000 years. Offers insight in latest developments and future prospects
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Summary: T.S. Kuhn would have been pleased.
Review: Application of non-linearity to problems in the Natural (hard) Sciences is not a new concept, and it has long been known that the omission of these terms is what prevents most models from aquiring the complexity we see in real life. De Landa chronicles the development in this area as applied to Biology, a couple of branches in Physics and the Social Sciences, and links all his subjects in such an extraordinary way that the book is itself a meshwork, in the purest sense of Deleuze and Guattari. The historical tidbits are themselves amusing and informative, and thus make the reading quite enjoyable. This is just as well an exposition of the history of nonlinearity as it is a presentation of nonlinearity as culmination of any and all ongoing natural processes.
The book's greatest strength is the presentation of unusual concepts in a strangely clear and persuasive way. In fact, if you have picked Deleuze and Guattari's books and have discarded them as pseudophilosophical bull, as I once erroneuosly did, give them a go again after De Landa; you will be surprised.
Read it, and one day you may brag that you were well aware of the conceptual revolution that shook Science as a whole as the 21st Century began, well before it was fully on its way.
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Summary: A really good book.....
Review: De Landa's take on history is that it is a product of complexity and self-organization much more than we are prone to believe; in this book, he expands on and explodes from those of his (also) brilliant "War in the Age of Intelligent Machines".The traditional metaphors for human progress that have been coopted from other sciences-- economics, geology, and engineering-- and do not adequately portray what exactly man hath wrought. In this book, De Landa works through history three seperate times and discusses-- through the use of terms like 'bifucation' and 'singularities' how he believes it did progress.... I really like this book: I think that it is definately a text whose time has come..... BUT.... having read both this and 'War...' I want to warn readers of their one failing-- the author-- because of his broad sweep-- seems to occasionally make errors in the myriad of references that he makes (the book is meticulously footnoted, to its credit). Though this is largely an editor's problem, it is bad.... something that someone who is going at things fast-and-furious and from a broad sweep is likely to have happen.... It doesn't blight the whole. This is a must read.... though fans of traditional disciplines might not find a whole lot to like about with it (and might find a lot more along the lines of my above point....)
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Summary: Much food for thought, and presented in a digestable manner
Review: I really liked this book for several reasons. First of all, it is extremely well written and relatively easy to understand when considering the content involved. For example, DeLanda gives interpretations of Deleuze and Guatarri's work that, at least for me, greatly aided in clarifying "A Thousand Plateaus". Even though i was previously familiar with D & G, who DeLanda draws from extensively, i had never before read, for example, Prigogine or Braudel. However, unlike many authors who demand that one has extensive background knowledge of the writers discussed, DeLanda takes the time to give meaningful and understandable interpretations of these writers such that one previously unfamiliar can gain a suitable understanding. Furthermore, DeLanda provides extensive examples of his philosophy "in action" in history, such as the "double articulation" machine that he borrows from D & G. Yet again, unlike D & G, who provide vague and jagged examples of their philosophy, DeLanda goes deep into each example, explaining it in detail rather than assuming knowledge on the part of the reader. In fact, much of the "philosophical" content of "A Thousand Years..." is borrowed. However, even so, DeLanda APPLIES this philosophy masterfully and in a unique and suitably complex manner. This is a book that i would reccomend to persons in all fields of study and employment, as it explores many of problems in our current system and aids in understanding what otherwise might be taken for granted.
Rating: 
Summary: Gibberish
Review: The author is trying to communicate with us, but
by using Klingon Battle Language he'd be more intelligible.
The terms and concepts in the book appear not to have
ordinary meaning, but follow a lexicon inspired by someone who had too much graduate level deconstructionism. I gave it an honest try, on recommendation of Terence McKenna and Mark
Pesce. It would seem that the author is writing for
an audience with IQs above 200, or I'm hopelessly out
of touch.
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Summary: Like, Awesome !!!
Review: This book has changed my Life. Like, absolutely.
Now I know where I come from.
Mom, where are you ...????????
Rating:
Summary: so that's how the world works.....
Review: This book is extraordinary. I recently took a class with Manuel DeLanda in which he explored the themes of this and his other book "War In the Age of Intelligent Machines." His concept of non-linear history is beautiful, a fusion of academic disciplines that have forever been blockaded from such a delicate and well thought out junction. DeLanda uses geology, gunpowder, and farm animals to explain that human histories of power have everything to do with chaotic patterns. He makes everything easy to understand. His book has recreated the world for me.
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Summary: the echoes of a dynamic mentality.
Review: This is a fascinating odyssey through the compelling concept of nonlinear theory. In using detailed examples De Landa performs amazing explications as to the relationship between nonlinear theory and various historical processes. His suggestion to "destratify" and "experiment" with reality are exciting views in contrast to the rampant homogeneity propagated through the seams of our society. A truly envigorating book that with patience and thought can radically reconfigure your outlook on history and any other entity that may need a tweak of nonlinearity.
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Summary: Revamp high school social studies
Review: While reading this I couldn't help but wonder about the advantages to reformatting high school ciriculum with more attention paid to the nonlinear nature of things as presented in here. Forget dates and names and specific places - these things are forgotten anyway - De Landa is all about concepts and reasons why. From urban landscapes as human exoskeletons to the corporate drive to control our very genes this historical account is really an intense examination of the progress of matter-energy over the last one-thousand years as the term progress itself becomes questioned along with a great many other things. I recommend this book to those who have ever asked why - and those who never have. So get your hands on it, read it, read it again, and pass it along. There's not a disappointing page between its covers.
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