Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
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Book Reviews of Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Book Review: A tour de force that isn't as biased or presumptuous as some critics have claimed
Summary: 5 Stars
Many reviews claim this book to be biased and bereft of some important additional components that have influenced human evolutionary history. Diamond actually does mention many of these components, but seems to think they're merely subsidiaries of the broader agents behind history's patterns (which he lists as government/religion, germs, writing, and technology).
This book isn't perfect, but it's a great start and leaves the door wide open for those interested in pursuing the study of human evolution. It's boldest claim is that geography was the greatest SINGLE determinant of the evolution of human societies (continental axes, climate, biology, geology, etc.). He doesn't claim geography did it all and does indeed discuss important other factors such as cultural receptivity to new technology, progress, and change. But I think it's interesting that he goes so far as to claim that the essence of it all is mere geographical location, and from that simple starting point our many complex differences have spawned.
Book Review: Guns, Germs & Steel
Summary: 5 Stars
I believe there are few individuals (I'm talking especially about laypeople like myself here) who won't benefit from reading Guns, Germs and Steel. While Diamond's hypothesis may not necessarily represent the *complete* picture, may be biased, and may not be indisputable, it indeed "lays a foundation for understanding human history" as Bill Gates reviewed it.
Diamond provides a convincing, well-worded argument leading the reader to believe geographical differences between continents played a major role in shaping the fates of human societies, at the very least.
Book Review: History of technological development in a nutshell..
Summary: 5 Stars
Diamond initiates the book with a simple but valid and very interesting question of why the current power distribution in the world is as it is as opposed to some other way. He takes us thru from the point where everything was equal - at least it appeared to be so - to where we are now and attempts to explain the way things progressed as they did and how different parts of the world advanced as opposed to others; not only how this took place but also why it did not take place in other parts of the world too.
Going thru the arguments are really enjoyable, un-put-downable and teaching. It can be used as a great teaching material and that was the reason I have ordered a new copy for my son who is 14 for him to learn, question and understand intricacies of these social and technological developments as well as appreciate the value and capability of all societies.
Diamond concludes every chapter as well as exploring in detail in the last chapter the importance of consequential circumstances in these events. This makes us more knowledgeable in relation to where we are as societies and allows us to understand that this is not only result of the intelligence of races but also environmental consequences. This is an important message that needs to be expanded all around the world, specially in the west and lately in the far-east that we should look at our successes with more humility and stop acting as if such successes are only attributable to our own race and/or being the chosen one.
I endorse this view and therefore I recommend this book to everyone who wants a better understanding of the history of these developments in our world.
Book Review: The Defining Work: "This is Where We Come From"
Summary: 5 Stars
Diamond explores the link between geography, and the way that societies develop, on a grand scale over thousands of years. It's the ultimate history book, in which world events shrink to localised inevitabilities in the grand scheme of things. It's a study that relates to history in the same way that "climate" relates to "weather".
Most illuminating and thoroughly researched are the relationships between the available species of plant and animal available to early farmers, and the development of farming and with it "civilization". One uses the word with caution given the extensive discourse that Diamond has upon the subject. Of similar interest is the way that linguistics are used to underpin and cross-reference archealogical data concerning the movement and development of peoples on a global geographical scale.
The thing that really brings the book to life is the personal passion of Diamond himself. He has worked at close quarters with "primitive" peoples - a word whose use he would object to - and he is at pains to debunk the notion of one society being in some way genetically superior to another. He mixes research data with personal anecdotes and experiences in a way that illuminates and illustrates what he is saying, without losing the scientific objectivity of his principal vantage point.
The book is well-written, has a clear structure and flows well. At certain points it can be a little laboured, some commonsense points being explained over several pages, but this usually happens when he is tackling some commonly held misperception. He uses the question of a New Guinea friend, basically "why do some societies do better than others" as opening background, though as an attention-grabber it seemed a little weak and as a "red thread" came over as slightly contrived. The book really gets into its stride in about the second or third chapter. However, this is a very minor criticism of a work of masterly proportions and execution.
I would thoroughly recommend this book. If nothing else, the reader will be able to watch television documentaries about far-flung places and spot the triteness and popular inexactitude of some of the commentary. However, in terms of driving a stake into the ground, and saying "this is where we come from" and why, this is the defining work, and well deserving it is of its Pulitzer Prize status.
Book Review: Overhyped, Overly Repetitive, Nothing Novel and Misses Point
Summary: 2 Stars
Apparently this book was inspired when an impoverished New Guinean asked the author why he had "so much cargo". That is to say why he had so many possessions and the New Guineans had so little. Diamond then goes on to explain who conquered who and why. That has nothing to do with material wealth that I can see and so, completely misses the point. The book notes for instance that the Spanish conquered many other people. How many nations did the people of say Hong Kong or Japan conquer ? The answer is none yet I'm sure the people of Hong Kong or Japan have more consumer goods than the Spanish do. How does Jared Diamond explain why the oil rich Arabs are so insanely wealthy in terms of Germs, Guns and Steel ? In this sense, the reader is left wondering whether the author even understood the Guinean's question as he spent an awful lot of energy answering a completely different question: Who conquered who ? The Russians were one of the conquerors of Germany in WW2. Who in Russia wouldn't trade places with a German today ? The war winning Philippinos are near starving while the defeated Japanese are gorging. In any event, the author also fails to present anything new or original. We've known for centuries that disease makes transgeneal jumps, that germs wiped out scores of native Americans, that guns are more lethal than wooden clubs and that iron smelting was revolutionary. Where is the original work in this book ? And repetitive, this book could have been a third of its size. It got to the point I thought I had lost my page and wound up at an earlier chapter.Lastly, there is nothing suggestive of any way we can more effectively distribute wealth. I can't believe the Pulitzer people awarded this book anything. It's hyped through the roof. If your into the latest literary fad though, this books for you.