Finally finished this. It was a good read, not a vivid page turner but it rewarded the persistent reader with a few golden nuggets of information that made you stop and stare, as well as a lot of history I was totally unaware of, Indonesia a being a prime example (see below, a nice bit piece of Japanese artwork associated with Commodore Perry’s arrival to Japan in 1853 and a rather rude awakening to Western industrialisation by virtue of being on the receiving end of large caliber high explousive shells):  

The premise of the book is that countries and humans share a certain capacity to survive or be destroyed by unexpected „upheavals“ and it is how they (either a country of a person) react to the „unexpected traumatic event“ that is the key to their survival or destruction. Though provoking as he lists out his key characteristics … best read the book for that description 😉