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Guns, Germs and Steel | 
 enlarge | Author: Jared Diamond
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
Category: Book
Buy Used: $10.79
New (15) Used (22) Collectible (2) from $10.79
Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 22248
Media: Paperback
ISBN: 0739467352
Dewey Decimal Number: 909
EAN: 9780739467350
ASIN: 0739467352
Publication Date: June 30, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Exlibrary trade size softcover -- 99 Reprint -- good reading copy but with text markings or library labels (lastmgxlib)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 An amazingly well done and unique perspective on the evolution of human cultures November 2, 2008
Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" is a thoughtful, well researched text that brings a new perspective to the question of why some societies have remained marginalized in the modern world, while others, particularly societies springing from the Western European cultural tradition, have been able to rise to world dominance in the 19th, 20th, and (so far) 21st centuries.
This second edition of the book adds some interesting perspectives and thoughts of his on the recent rise of East Asian and Middle Eastern cultures to prominence, as well as enumerating some issues they will have to address if they are to supplant Western European cultural dominance in the long term.
Diamond's began this investigation as the result of an insightful question asked of him by his friend Yali, a tribesman in New Guinea: "Why is it you white people developed so much cargo (meaning not just goods, but all aspects of European culture, political structures, science, education and economy) and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?" Diamond returns to this question again and again throughout the book, making sure that we see how each aspect of his investigation contributes to answering Yali's question.
It is all too easy for someone writing on this subject to slide into the Western European-centric "evolutionary" hogwash that so many 19th and 20th century authors wallowed-in. Yet, in large part to his focusing on the question from Yali's point of view, Diamond avoids this trap. This focus also helps him avoid the opposing bias that many more recent authors have been infected by: of wanting to paint European Cultural Imperialism as the ultimate bogeyman.
Diamond makes a compelling argument that the availability and diversity of animal and plant food resources and technologies is a decisive factor in determining how successful a culture will be in spreading into other parts of the world. He shows that the unique availability of a wide variety grains and other crops suitable for farming in the Fertile Crescent, combined with the availability of several species of animals that could be exploited as both a food source and labor, made for a potent combination that enabled the societies of this part of the world to expand into Asia, North Africa and Europe.
The author also looks at how climate and geography influenced the expansion of cultures. He demonstrates that societies in the Fertile Crescent could easily expand west and east into the vast Eurasian Landmass, while other cultures, such as those of Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas, had more limited agricultural resources and also lived on landmasses with significant geographical barriers that impeded their expansion. These barriers also prevented interaction with other cultures that could have introduced useful technologies, additional food sources, and other synergies. The introduction of the Fertile Crescent's "food cargo" into Europe, combined with the geographic and environmental situation of European societies, enabled them to leverage this "cargo" in ways that the parent cultures had not been able-to.
The author's thesis is carefully developed throughout the book, and well-supported with extensive and well done analysis of multiple aspects of the question, including a detailed look at the animal and plant species that were available for development by humans in each area of the world.
His invesigation into the "Germs" aspect of the book's title is just as fascinating. He makes it clear that that he finds Yali and his people to be in many ways more intelligent and curious about the world about them than Europeans, with an ability to exploit what they find in ways that Europeans seem to not be able to do. He is then able to explain why this is so, with specific examples and a strong analytical/historical analysis, to support his conclusions. Yet, he is also able to show why Yali's intellectual superiority does not translate into his people's being able to resist the invasion of European culture and technology.
I found this book to be eye-opening in terms of exploring the dynamics of social and cultural "evolution" throughout human history. Diamond has restored the usage of the term "evolution" to its proper place, after it had become a "dirty word" in many circles due to the colonial-era biases mentioned above. The Pulitzer Prize the author received as a result of this book is well deserved. Five Stars!
 Let's see, guns, germs, steel..left anything out?...Oh, how about culture? October 24, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
First I will agree with many reviewers in that Diamond makes a compelling argument for the influence of the relative starting points of different human societies. It was fascinating to read about the availability of potential food crops and domesticated animals and to see how this had repercussions in a society's development. I was a bit put off by the straw man Diamond continually was knocking down: the argument that some societies succeeded due to inherent genetic advantages (is anyone actually making that argument these days?), but I figured surely he was going to get around to addressing the role of culture. I was mistaken.
The two big blind spots in his argument are:
1) Why do so many of the great men of history arise from the Judeo-Christian cultural tradition?
2) Why China, with its relative advantages on the "starting line" of history has not been more influential in the past two centuries?
I was disappointed to find that Diamond ascribed no role whatsoever to the different cultures, their tolerance for risk, their governmental choices, in the ultimate success of those societies. Apparently the great men of history just happened to get born disproportionately in Europe and the U.S. Luck of the draw and all that. His answer for China was almost as unsatisfying. Apparently the homogeneity of China, its coastline, and its lack of war (relative to Europe) were the reasons for its initially surging ahead, then eventually lagging behind. Very little evidence was marshaled (unlike the earlier well-documented chapters). It was like Diamond realized China was going to require explanation and simply picked the ways it was most different from Europe. Now, the explanations he chose _may_ be the actual reasons for the differences, but I think one could equally argue that cultural and religious differences played a critical role.
Anyway, a very interesting read, especially the first half. And that's about right. I think Diamond has laid out a convincing case for the role of "nature" in societal development. Unfortunately, he seems to have decided that the other half, "nurture", is so trivial as to require no discussion.
Must read June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book and is a must read for anyone who cares about the history (and reasons why it unfolded the way it did) of the growth of civilization.
Insightful, but too "politically correct" May 26, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I believe that if Professor Diamond had not suggested that the economic gap between first and third-world nations was due to environmental differences "exclusively" (as opposed to allowing for the possibility of group/genetic/biological/racial differences), this book would never have been awarded the Pulitzer by the politically-correct powers that be. In fact, he may have won that award for the very reason that he categorically dismisses any other possible explanation beyond a series of environmental factors that came into play in the past 13,000 years.
According to Diamond, the observed disparity between African and European nations, for instance, is due only (and could only be due) to factors external to the collective I.Q. of those who comprise these nations. But, curiously, it's not that the professor rejects the possibility that inhabitants of countries can differ collectively in I.Q. (in fact, in both the Prologue and Epilogue, the author tacks on his assertion that the indigenous people of Papua, New Guinea are "smarter" that many other human societies.) The real reason the author maintains his position is...well, he never really explains why he can't possibly fathom that biological differences could even be a minor factor in the mix. If the Papua people are smarter---and haven't been trailblazers for Guns, Germs and Steel---Diamond evidently reasons that biological differences can't be a factor. Maybe in the back of his mind, the good professor knew that if he suggested otherwise, the book wouldn't have sold a fraction of its current sales...(and why he believes that Papuans are so much smarter than Westerners is not clearly explained by Diamond, either.)
Despite Diamond's somewhat narrow, "incomplete" analysis, the basic thesis of the book---that geographic differences in the availability of food; the conduciveness of intracontinental travel; and the size of resident human populations together account for the differences in human outcomes---is in its own right quite fascinating. (Therefore, I do give the book 3 stars).
I simply object to how adamantly the author expounds on his theory. I would have hoped for a less authoritative approach, and greater openness to explanations other than the author's narrow subset of possibilities.
Long, but great read! May 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Of course this book is a longer read than most but, pick it up if you are the least bit intrigued in the factors which make civilizations great. No matter what the critique, this book definitely makes you think of the world's history through a different lens then you are used to. Contemplate Wright's Non Zero and Huntington's Clash of Civilizations as follow-on texts.
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