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Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Written by Jared Diamond

Narrated by Grover Gardner

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Ratings:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5 (372 ratings)

Length: 5 hours

Publisher:: HighBridge Audio
Released:: Jul 11, 2001
ISBN:: 9781598873481
Format:: Audiobook (abridged)

Editor's Note

Eloquent history…

This elegant and eloquent history of humanity examines not just how human society developed, but why it developed differently in different cultures. A must–read for the history buff and the layperson alike.

Description

In this groundbreaking work, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history's broadest patterns. It is a story that spans 13,000 years of human history, beginning when Stone Age hunter-gatherers constituted the entire human population.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Book Actions

Start Listening

Book Information

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Written by Jared Diamond

Narrated by Grover Gardner

Ratings:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5 (372 ratings)

Length: 5 hours

Editor's Note

Eloquent history…

This elegant and eloquent history of humanity examines not just how human society developed, but why it developed differently in different cultures. A must–read for the history buff and the layperson alike.

Description

In this groundbreaking work, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history's broadest patterns. It is a story that spans 13,000 years of human history, beginning when Stone Age hunter-gatherers constituted the entire human population.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Publisher:: HighBridge Audio
Released:: Jul 11, 2001
ISBN:: 9781598873481
Format:: Audiobook (abridged)

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What people think about Guns, Germs and Steel

4.0

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

372 ratings / 178 reviews

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Rating: 5 out of 5 stars(5/5)

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The aim of this book (and I am oversimplifying) is to explain why western countries became the dominant force in the last couple of centuries. Specifically, he is rejecting social Darwinist and racist explanations for why it has been mostly European Caucasian societies that have come to power, to find an explanation based on geography and evolution. Diamond is successful in this explanation, and takes the reader some of the most interesting developments in human history--the rise of agriculture and animal domestication, the invention of writing, and other important technologies, and migration and trade patterns. While the book is packed with interesting information, it is however, rather repetitive, and probably cites more examples than it needs to.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars(5/5)

The aim of this book (and I am oversimplifying) is to explain why western countries became the dominant force in the last couple of centuries. Specifically, he is rejecting social Darwinist and racist explanations for why it has been mostly European Caucasian societies that have come to power, to find an explanation based on geography and evolution. Diamond is successful in this explanation, and takes the reader some of the most interesting developments in human history--the rise of agriculture and animal domestication, the invention of writing, and other important technologies, and migration and trade patterns. While the book is packed with interesting information, it is however, rather repetitive, and probably cites more examples than it needs to.

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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars(3/5)

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Dense, academic, slow and possessing an onslaught of illustrative examples. Not the most entertaining read, and I probably retained very little. Worthy of a Pulitzer? Absolutely.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars(3/5)

Dense, academic, slow and possessing an onslaught of illustrative examples. Not the most entertaining read, and I probably retained very little. Worthy of a Pulitzer? Absolutely.

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Rating: 5 out of 5 stars(5/5)

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Jarod Diamond examines the question of why are some societies more successful than others. Ultimately, why was it the Europeans who dominated exploration and conquest of the world? Why not China or Africa? Diamond explores the idea of "accidental conquest" based on geographic luck. This informational text is best suited for high school students because of the complexity of ideas. Diamond won the Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) in 1998 for this book and in 1999 and 2004, it was placed on the ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound list.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars(5/5)

Jarod Diamond examines the question of why are some societies more successful than others. Ultimately, why was it the Europeans who dominated exploration and conquest of the world? Why not China or Africa? Diamond explores the idea of "accidental conquest" based on geographic luck. This informational text is best suited for high school students because of the complexity of ideas. Diamond won the Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) in 1998 for this book and in 1999 and 2004, it was placed on the ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound list.

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars(4/5)

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Lots of great ideas. I've heard it criticised for not being rigorous enough, and I thought it was too wordy full stop but the author acknowledges all of this and the big picture I don't know how you would get the picture without all the words.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars(4/5)

Lots of great ideas. I've heard it criticised for not being rigorous enough, and I thought it was too wordy full stop but the author acknowledges all of this and the big picture I don't know how you would get the picture without all the words.

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Rating: 3 out of 5 stars(3/5)

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Diamond takes an evolutionary approach to the advancement of conquering cultures through the rapid advancement of crop cultivation, domestic animals, and survival of the fittest through disease. Unfortunately, it is in desperate need of an editor. Hundreds of pages should have been cut or redesigned. The last three chapters alone could have been cut to just a few pages. When Guns was first published it was considered quite revolutionary; however, current scholarship has challenged it with a bite.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars(3/5)

Diamond takes an evolutionary approach to the advancement of conquering cultures through the rapid advancement of crop cultivation, domestic animals, and survival of the fittest through disease. Unfortunately, it is in desperate need of an editor. Hundreds of pages should have been cut or redesigned. The last three chapters alone could have been cut to just a few pages. When Guns was first published it was considered quite revolutionary; however, current scholarship has challenged it with a bite.

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars(4/5)

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It's easily observed that many native peoples did not develop technology at the same rate as the white Europeans who eventually conquered them. Since the times when whites first encountered these races, they believed that their lack of technology meant they were less intelligent leading to a generallized belief of Caucasions as a superior race.In this book, Jared Diamond disabuses this notion. He cites a variety of anthropological arguments for the varied rates of technoligical development, including the number of plant and animal species available in an area for humans to domesticate, the ease of spread of new technologies and newly domesticates species, and impassable landforms which left cultures isolated. Naturally, this also affected disease resistance.I have read very little anthropology, so I found this fascinating. I have no way of judging whether this is new information, or a compilation of arguments familiar to anthropologists, but I learned quite a bit. Since it is twenty years old, I noticed a few scientific inaccuracies (dogs being domesticated in more than one area is the one that stood out to me) and I'm sure that anthropology has similarly moved forward.Nevertheless, I found it worthwhile and intriguing.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars(4/5)

It's easily observed that many native peoples did not develop technology at the same rate as the white Europeans who eventually conquered them. Since the times when whites first encountered these races, they believed that their lack of technology meant they were less intelligent leading to a generallized belief of Caucasions as a superior race.In this book, Jared Diamond disabuses this notion. He cites a variety of anthropological arguments for the varied rates of technoligical development, including the number of plant and animal species available in an area for humans to domesticate, the ease of spread of new technologies and newly domesticates species, and impassable landforms which left cultures isolated. Naturally, this also affected disease resistance.I have read very little anthropology, so I found this fascinating. I have no way of judging whether this is new information, or a compilation of arguments familiar to anthropologists, but I learned quite a bit. Since it is twenty years old, I noticed a few scientific inaccuracies (dogs being domesticated in more than one area is the one that stood out to me) and I'm sure that anthropology has similarly moved forward.Nevertheless, I found it worthwhile and intriguing.

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