Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson’s bestselling 2012 book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty addresses one of the most pervasive questions in the social sciences: why do some nations get rich, while others remain poor?

The book has received rave reviews from mainstream figures: New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman calls it “fascinating” and Jared Diamond thinks it should be “required reading,” while prominent scholars like Dani Rodrick, Robert Solow, Kenneth Arrow, and Francis Fukuyama all praise the book’s breadth and depth.

A central source of the book’s appeal is that Acemoglu, an economist, and Robinson, a political scientist, present a relatively simple answer to this longstanding conundrum: some nations develop inclusive institutions that foster sustained economic growth and wealth creation, but many others endure (and reproduce) extractive institutions that block the potential for long-term growth. These latter nations might experience ephemeral bursts of affluence (such as the Soviet Union), but they won’t achieve true prosperity in the long run.