"; if(is_file("header.php")) include "header.php"; else include "../header.php"; ?>

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 rise of major civilizations. No granted, his analysis is not 100% accurate - it really couldn't be, given the breadth he is trying to tackle, but each chapter really gives you some stuff to chew on. Particularly interesting is the way different science fields all contribute to the understanding of how things started (e.g. how grains developed, animals and exinction, etc.). Worth a read for anyone interesting in ultimate questions.