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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 in their development, and ultimately why one faction now pulls the strings of the world. To examine this in the correct perspective, Mr Diamond goes to the dawn of pre-history, asks the questions a child might ask, then attempts to answer them as convincingly as possible by drawing on the vast resources of available data and his own formidable intellect. Strangely, this doesn't result in a dry-as-dust treatise you might find in Nature journal, but in a highly enjoyable, thought-provoking read, illustrated by many little-known factual historical events. Many of the chapters did appear in Nature, as it happens, but the reasoned logic and step-by-step arguments make this as accessible and readable for the lay reader as the academic. The chapters on how and why our food came to be domesticated are particularly llluminating. Naturally, in a book of such scope, there remain many unanswered questions, but surely this will stimulate much more debate and research - at the same time correcting some long-held racist dogma. An excellent read. *****