Reader² book:Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

In this book, Diamond approaches the question of why the human world has developed the way it has. For example, why did Europe colonize the Americas and Australia, bringing with them African slaves? Why didn't Native Americans colonize Europe? Or Africans with European slaves colonize the Americas? He tries to dig to the fundamental reasons, digging into prehistory to start at the very beginning of differentiation. His thesis is that geographic differences in environment provided the fundamental differences that have led to differing development and the dominance or subordination of societies.

The book is well-written, and did not seem too repetitive even as he repeatedly drilled home points. Someone casually interested in his thesis could do well by just reading the prologue and epilogue, which spell things out nicely without delving into detail. The section of references is detailed and useful, making this a good introductory book for the layperson.

Still, I imagine the lack of footnotes and the quick pace and large scope of the book frustrates academics. As a layperson mostly content to accept his reasoning if well evidenced, there were still several points that were glossed over too quickly for me. He is strongest in his basics – the roots of agriculture and its effects on the dominance of the society. However, his claims about the transferability of inventions and social innovations and his conclusions about the advantages writing and bureaucracy gives to a society seemed to sketchily laid out to me. It seemed he perhaps could have benefited from writing two books. One focusing on the first stages of development including higher food production and population density and disease. The second could focus on the introduction of metalworking, writing, bureaucracy and ruling classes. Those elements were not as well developed as I think they could have been.

For those who maybe are even slower than I in reading this, I recommend it as worth the read. It's unfortunate but still in this world it's important to be able to explain that the conditions of people in the developing world are not due to their basic racial ineptitude. This books goes a good way in proving that.

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