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Author: Jared Diamond
Publisher: Viking Adult
Dimension: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
Weight: 2.0 pounds.

Verbose but Compelling
Perhaps the Pulitzer deterred Diamond's editor from suggesting any trimming, but otherwise the book's a compelling read. As a Los Angelino who has lived in Montana year round for 14 of the past 17 years, I must say that Montana is not nearly as close... more

This is NOT of the same caliber as Guns, Germs, and Steel
When I saw this book at my local bookstore for 30% off, I snatched it up and expected to be drawn into another fascinating historical narrative by Jared Diamond with important things to say about today's world. This didn't happen to the extent I expected.... more

A read to challenge your thinking
After having had the emotionally scaring experience of studying Guns, Germs, and Steel in my high school Economics 2 class I had sworn off Jared Diamond. In that book he examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities... more

A triumph of mass marketing
I'm an old fan of Diamond, but with each book I like him less. "Collapse" isn't really about science or ecology or the lessons of history, but how to sell books. Take a no-argument topic (People can destroy their environment,) add urgency (This is happening... more

How to Succeed and How to Fail: An International Primer
Jared Diamond is a professor of geography at UCLA. Among his many awards are the Pulitzer Prize for "Guns, Germs and Steel," the National Medal of Science, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
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Lessons from the past assimilated into a modern global view.
Collapse takes on the incredibly complex subject of why certain human societies have perished in the past and extracts lessons we can apply to our current globalized society. Diamond analyzes extinct societies by applying a set of five criteria (natural... more

Very, very interesting book
This is a really interesting book. Mind expanding I would say. Like his previous book Guns Germs & Steel, it will have a profound impact on the way you look at the world.

Even though many misguided critics try to label Diamond as "politically... more

Turn Off that Buffoon and Try this Tasty Spinach
Jared Diamond is a professor of geography at UCLA. This bias is evident in all the cultures he discusses. Every country has geographic limits- the location, soil fertility and weather of lands set parameters that are not easily breeched. Poor stewardship... more

A must. And deep
Collapse" is a wonderful book that combines hard science, rigorous historical research, and his own personal knowledge of people from the Bitterroot Valley of Montana to the west coast of Greenland to Rwanda to the highlands of New Guineau. He pulls together... more

A slog
I gave this book 3 stars because I found the topic interesting but like others agree that Mr. Diamond is in need of a good editor. He lays out his framework of five factors that lead to collapse: environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors,... more

Mother Nature Rules
Jared's expertise in this area of data gathering and analysis of human history is widely known and respected. I felt he could have looked even further back in time for answers, including the DNA evidence that shows humans were reduced to a population... more

Deep and moving
In Collapse, Jared Diamond has successfully examined the thousands of year of human history, by evaluating many of the great civilizations that went extinct due to their inability to recognize the limits of their resources and the strength of the forces... more

Even a Pulitzer Prize winner needs a good editor
Despite the NYT's reviewer's attempt to simplify "Collapse" beyond recognition, I found this to be a well-argued and sophisticated analysis of the dynamics of societal responses to environmental stress. But it takes a real effort and dedication to get... more

ecological collapse
For several years I have been whingeing that this book should be written. Now it has, hot off the presses - January 2005.

I have read about half of the book so far. Usually, I wait until I have completed a book and mulled it awhile before... more

Future (Or Past) Shock
Jared Diamond takes the large view. This was obvious in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, where Diamond cast aside long-standing beliefs of cultural superiority with in-depth research and great storytelling to create an argument that even the most conservative... more

Excellent Anthropology Coupled with a Confused Look at Today
I've always been fascinated by ghost towns, civilizations that have disappeared and ways of life that have vanished. Naturally, Collapsed appealed to that part of my interests. I was pleased to find convenient summaries of the latest research on what... more

All "one" star idiots
Tell me how come you "one" star reviewers all start with the same premise in your reviews, which is..."he (or she) is a (insert here - liberal, leftist, tree hugger, white hater, etc..) who can't be believed, etc..etc...

I read all reviews... more

Cliched and Trite
Have to admit I approached it skeptically. After
all, how many `the sky is falling' books was I
bombarded with in high school and college....95% of
which were total bulls__t. By 2005 we were
suppose to be broke, starving, gasping... more

Deep and moving
In Collapse, Jared Diamond has successfully examined the thousands of year of human history, by evaluating many of the great civilizations that went extinct due to their inability to recognize the limits of their resources and the strength of the forces... more

A Good Read, but Somewhat Myopic
Jared Diamond's "Collapse - How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" is a good discription of how people's choices result in the success or failure of their societies. Unfortunately the collapses he describes are of small societies on the fringes of the... more

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