Guns, germs, and steel - The Library of the Uncommons

480 pages

English language

Published Nov. 8, 1999 by W.W. Norton & Co..

ISBN:: 978-0-393-31755-8
OCLC Number:: 41076605

(4 reviews)

Why did Eurasians conquer, displace, or decimate Native Americans, Australians, and Africans, instead of the reverse? In this groundbreaking book, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history's broadest patterns. Here, at last, is a world history that really is a history of all the world's peoples, a unified narrative of human life even more intriguing and important than accounts of dinosaurs and glaciers. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world, and its inequalities, came to be. It is a work rich in dramatic revelations that will fascinate readers even as it challenges conventional wisdom.

35 editions

creamfresh reviewed Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Great overview of global history and prehistory

5 stars

I am not a historian, thus I cannot speak to the validity of specific details he provides, but Jared Diamond builds his thesis on why western societies dominate the globe today, on such solid groundwork, that I cannot imagine the broad strokes of his theory being refuted in the future. The book gives an overview about the evolutionary biology of crops and livestock, prehistory, history, geography and the influences of each field on the others. A large focus is put on the areas of Southeast-Asia/Oceania and South America. As a layman with general knowledge of the topics (I watch too much science YouTube) I found everything comprehensible, though many theses are repeated so many times, that often I got confused and could not tell wether I already read a section or not. In summary, if you are like me and watch a lot of science YouTube, this book will give …

I am not a historian, thus I cannot speak to the validity of specific details he provides, but Jared Diamond builds his thesis on why western societies dominate the globe today, on such solid groundwork, that I cannot imagine the broad strokes of his theory being refuted in the future. The book gives an overview about the evolutionary biology of crops and livestock, prehistory, history, geography and the influences of each field on the others. A large focus is put on the areas of Southeast-Asia/Oceania and South America. As a layman with general knowledge of the topics (I watch too much science YouTube) I found everything comprehensible, though many theses are repeated so many times, that often I got confused and could not tell wether I already read a section or not. In summary, if you are like me and watch a lot of science YouTube, this book will give you a bit of a deeper insight into the developement of human society without focusing too much on a single discipline.