Guns, Germs, and Steel
The Fates of Human Societies
by Jared Diamond · first published 1997
42% recommend45% neutral14% critical
Why HN recommends it
Accessible but serious account of how geography, agriculture, disease and technology shaped why some societies grew dominant, without claiming any group is inherently superior; suits readers wanting big-picture history.
Common criticism: Some say its argument is reverse-engineered and fails to explain developments after 1800
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
An epic detective story that offers a gripping expose on why the world is so unequal. Professor Jared Diamond traveled the globe for over 30 years trying to answer this question.
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There is a good book that deals with the question of why it was Europeans that colonized the Americas (and other places) and not the other way round: "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel One of the main points is that the geography of Eurasia allowed easier transfer of staple crops and useful animals between cultures.…
on “Network of fortified towns indicates Amazon was once heavily populated” ↗Political institutions are part of it, but probably not the most important part. The excellent book Guns, Germs, and Steel[1] lays out very well researched reasons for the disparities we see today. Highly recommended reading! Spoiler: What kind of crops and livestock you have paired to your climate over history is a big…
on “Why some nations are rich and others poor (2016)” ↗Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond is a mind-expanding read. Furthermore, it should be noted that many civilizations have problems roughly around the 250 year / 10 generation time, and the US is quite close to that. Combined…
on “Easter Island statues may have 'walked' out of quarry (2012)” ↗Another good read that says something similar. Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393973867 And the documentary based on the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgGw8kZnJxE
on “Germs and ancient migrations help explain our world of 'haves' and 'have nots'” ↗…once you are done with the book you'd want to go to Britain and tie Fforde to his desk until he is done with the next book. The books that surprised me though are incredibly well-spotted. I like that Guns, Germs and Steel is there. It's been on my reading list for... 3 years already (I have it, but it's a heavy book so I'm always eager to pick an ebook or thinner material for a commute,) because the theme is so compelling.…
on “Books to Read in a Lifetime” ↗Guns, Germs and Steel - still reading it but one of the best I 've read so far..
on “Ask HN: Great books you read in 2009?” ↗The best answer to this question I have ever found is in the book Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. It takes a look at the question of why one group of people ended up with the tech first and largely comes to the conclusion that it is part of a complex interaction involving the environmental…
on “Why nations fail” ↗For me it was Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. It blew my mind on almost every section! I loved it I suppose coz it answered a lot of questions I'd growing up and a bit more. I've recommended it to…
on “Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?” ↗The most ambitious book in that regard must be Guns, Germs, and Steel (http://amzn.to/2jKq9ku) by Jared Diamond. It aims to answer the question: "Why did Europeans end up killing/conquering/... American Indians, and not the other way around? You'll find lots of people…
on “Ask HN: What are some good (fiction/non-fiction) books about human progress?” ↗Guns, Germs, and Steel is a really good book. Two hospital MD's independently stopped me at gym to say "that's one of the best books I've ever read." And the department chair where I worked exclaimed similarly. Another hypothesis…
on “How to Get Rich (1999)” ↗Guns, Germs and Steel. Actually, any well researched history book. View on the world gets changed drastically, and usually for better.
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.
on “Ask HN: Which book helped you understand the world?” ↗I love, love love the book Guns, Germs and Steel. It's not perfect but the author throws in so many great ideas as to why certain groups did better than others. None because any group is inherently superior. http://www.amazon.com/Guns-Germs-Steel-Fates-Societies/dp/03...
on “All Non-Africans Part Neanderthal, Genetics Confirm” ↗There is a book that connects large-scale geology with the human-scale history by arguing how the former affects the later. It's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond.
on “Obama's Secret Weapon In The South is 129 Million Years Old” ↗Strangely not mentioned at all, so I'll put it here: Jared Diamond is the author of Guns, Germs and Steel, his most famous work. It addresses the question of how and why European societies were able to advance themselves so much farther ahead of all other civilizations. There is also an excellent four-part…
on “That Daily Shower Can Be a Killer” ↗