Does somebody read and can recommend any good reads on change in a social and historical way? How the big changes in history were shaped, what were the reasons behind it, also how people can effectively contribute to it.
Sounds like you might be looking for something more positive but I just finished Last Days of the Incas, pretty astounding record of a society being ground out in one generation. http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Days-Incas-MacQuarrie/dp/0743260503 It's almost impossible to fathom a force of 187 Spaniards crushing an army of 30,000 Inca with no casualties but it happened. Less than a thousand men dominated a society of some 10 million people. The book has left me contemplating greed, power, technology and culture in ways I haven't in quite some time.
It seems like an interesting story. I'll write it down and maybe get and read it sometime.
I haven't read that one, but I've read several others on the Conquest of South America (mostly Peru and Colombia), and I would recommend anyone who's interested in history or politics do the same. It's a fascinating investigation into power, greed, technology and culture, as you say, but also psychology and economics. It's another one of those events that's almost completely ignored in main stream history education, but shouldn't be.
The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli is a gloomy insight into how society used to be (and still is) engineered by the rich and powerful. The following quote succinctly sums it up. I do not endorse it as a guide to change.“Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception.”
― Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince
There's some interesting historical texts about change. I've got a used copy of The Meiji Restoration by W.G. Beasley, and I don't know if you know any of the history behind Japan's industrialization, but they (and this is incredibly simplified) went from a pseudo-feudalist and mostly unmodernized state to a world power within ~20 years by the time WWI was happening. I'd be willing to send you my copy, but there are A LOT of pen marks in it, since I just bought it from a library that was pissed about the amount of marking in it and looking to replace it. Most of it dies down after a few chapters though.
I'll pass on it now. I wouldn't mind the marks at all, but I don't think it's exactly what I'm looking for and I already have pretty big pile of books to read. Still thank you for the offer.