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Author: Jared Diamond
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Dimension: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
Weight: 1.6 pounds.

A well planned rehash.
I would be surprised if any other readers have read the 1988 book by University of Texas Professor: Richard Newbold Adams; The Eighth Day : Social Evolution as the Self-Organization of Energy.

Diamond does a fine job of ripping off and popularizing... more

I thought EVERYBODY knew this stuff
Well, I have to admit I skipped over the bit about all the food stuff, makes no sence theres Macdonalds everywhere, but the steel, now THERE ya go with some common sence. I mean, the last time I was in Mobile, I was talking to this hot blonde in Whiskeys,... more

11,000 Years of history - Interpreted persuadingly...
In this stunning book Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors was the one and only reason for the Europeans to dominate the new world

Jared Diamond starts his book at around 11,000 B.C when all human... more

Illuminating
If all men are created equal, then why are some cultures so much more technologically and economically advanced than others?

Racists have always made me feel uneasy becuase, while I have never been impressed by their attitudes, I have also... more

Big civilizations from such little factors
Guns, Germs and Steel is not so much a history book as a geography book. Jared Diamond has provided us with a concise and clearly written view of how civilizations get started and some of the factors influencing how they interact. The big question Diamond... more

Wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking
I listened to the audiobook version in my car and I enjoyed it so much that I often found myself sitting in the parking lot of my destination listening for ten more minutes.

Diamond has a way of analyzing history that is both thorough and... more

Spotlight Reviews are decidedly wrong
Christopher Smith is incorrect in his description of Diamond's work. First, Diamond does NOT reject the influence of culture and human decisions on the fates of societies. This is discussed at length in the Epilogue.

Second, and worse, is... more

Stimulating & thought-provoking.
Try not to be put off by the title; yes, they do feature prominently in the book, but that is not the basic thrust of Mr. Diamond's excellent book.
This is more about how equally intelligent 'tribes' of the same species came to differ so greatly... more

Comprehensive History of the origin of everybody
Mr. Diamond is a very entertaining writer, and he is pretty smart to boot. This book is pretty ambitious - it attempts to explain why different populations turned out differently. I think he does a great job of outlining factors that contribute to the... more

Challenging but fascinating
Jared Diamond has given an impressive account of why complex civilizations and technology emerged on the Eurasian continent rather than other locations. Noting that many earlier writers have suggested an innate superiority of the population, he argues... more

Answers to Yali
Q:Yali:"Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?"

A:Diamond:"The striking differences between the long-term histories of peoples of the different... more

PC propaganda ad nauseum
Had this garbage been written by Jesse Jackson himself, it could not contain more easily disproven racist propaganda. Diamond's primary contention is that white people and western society have gained cultural and social dominance not as a result of any... more

Disappointing
Mr. Diamond seems to have written this book as a means of refuting the old theories about non-Europeans being backward, and in a classic case of political correctness, he actually argues that the inhabitants of New Guinea are more intelligent than their... more

Solid writing, solid logic.
This is a great read, so long as you don't get bored by detail (I don't!). The author is very capable of taking a seemingly boring topic, and creating an entire book around it.
To any person who thinks human variables trump geography and other... more

I prefer Diamond's new book, Collapse.
I prefer Diamond's sweeping new book, Collapse. It's much less "academic" yet it conveys many of the same ideas. In Collapse, Diamond sketches out the path of cataclysm. Environmental harm, climate alteration, fast population growth, and imprudent political... more

Compelling argument, but dull reading
I have to agree with the reviewer who judged the book "fascinating, and yet so tedious". I found the main argument of Mr Diamond rather convincing. The reasons why humanity strived in certain geographical areas and not in others are also to be found in... more

Fascinating, and yet so tedious
I am recommending this book; however, I found it quite the chore to get through.

The premise of the book is a 400-page walk through human history to try to determine factors that led to some cultures dominating others, rather than the reverse,... more

Critique of last two critiques at 2 and 3 stars respectively
I am currently reading Guns, Germs, and Steel and having considered not buying it due to two reviews prior to mine, I bought it because in reading more reviews below them, I found that it seemed some bias on the part of the two reviews was at work. While... more

Fascinating Refutation of Racial Superiority
Diamond provides an eminently readable, interesting and convincing explanation of why civilizations developed where they did. A very worthwhile read for anyone interested in the origins of societies.

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Let the Buyer Beware
Mr. Diamond is clearly someone who is of Western European descent but finds nothing, or very little, to admire in his own heritage. To hear him tell it -- endlessly, I might add -- Western Civilization owes it ascent and dominance purely through nature's... more

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