# Against the Grain by James C. Scott

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Against the Grain by James C. Scott and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for its look at early states and their repeated failures, and for its solid archaeology coverage.

## Why people recommend it

- Covers early states and their failures (1 comments): "Against the Grain by James C Scott focuses on early states and their semi-regular failures" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48103759))
- Good archaeology coverage (1 comments): "James C. Scott's Against the Grain covers the archeology nicely." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48992552))
- Amazing, enjoyable read (1 comments): "Against the Grain was amazing though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49090129))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dawn-of-everything.md): 23 recommend
- [Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/cadillac-desert.md): 18 recommend
- [The Box by Marc Levinson](https://hackerapproved.com/p/box.md): 16 recommend
- [Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sapiens.md): 13 recommend
- [Chip War by Chris Miller](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chip-war.md): 13 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/030024021X?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780300240214) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Against the Grain by James C. Scott", https://hackerapproved.com/p/against-the-grain/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).