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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 and belligerent couldn't refute. With Collapse, Diamond takes the large view again to explain how and why societies collapse (in some cases, societal implosion might be an even better description). Those of us who understand natural science and ecosystems are already onboard with the causes of collapse, but it is often (if not always) difficult to make a case that many elements of our society will accept. Diamond is brilliant: one of his early chapters discusses the mystery of Easter Island, and who isn't fascinated by a good mystery? He moves on to the Vikings in America and Greenland; again, a topic bound to entrance even the most conservative reader. Going forward, he discusses the Maya and the Anasazi, and then he springs his trap: most of the second half of the book deals with environmentalism and sustainability. Among the greatest causes of societal collapse are deforestation, resource depletion, pollution, the availability of fresh water, and soil salinity-all of the bad things that environmentalists have been warning us about since Rachel Carson had the courage to step up in the fifties and sixties. Some societies did collapse because of warfare and strife, but more often than not, societies collapsed because of environmental degradation or violence that resulted from environmental degradation. As the reader learns about Easter Islanders, Vikings, and Anasazi, Diamond weaves in the environmental impacts that led to the demise of these cultures; the conservative is lured in until denial is no longer an adequate response. Collapse may be a book that can finally sway anti-environmentalists into some kind of positive action; they may at least sell their SUVs or try to recycle something. Collapse is not a gloom & doom genre book. Diamond avoids the trap of trying to predict an uncertain future; he simply reports accurately what has happened in the past, and applies what is learned to the present. Collapse is both a great historical book and an important environmental book.