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alexrinehart's review against another edition
2.0
Required read for an AP course. I hated reading this. I did not want to move to the next page ever. But I could see why it's useful I guess? I don't know... It's sooooo dull. And so much information in one book. Will not reread this lol.
shayzard's review against another edition
5.0
I was assigned this book about ten years ago for an anthropology class I took as an elective. I "read" it then, but I didn't really read it as closely as I read things now that I'm in grad school. I'm aware of a lot of historians and scientists who don't like this book, citing inaccuracies and their disagreements with Diamond's hypothesis that certain countries developed faster because of a chain of factors; geography, which led to their being able to switch to sedentary life and farm and reproduce food more rapidly, which led to them domesticating animals and develop immunities, and then to develop technology once they were settled and had the resources. Of course, there's a lot more to it, which is why this is a 600+ page book. I'm not a historian; I write fiction and study creative writing. I wanted to revisit this book before starting some others to see if I can enjoy learning history and anthropology and perhaps some science on my own, from well-written books like this. This was a good starting point, and one I'd recommend for anyone with a similar idea in mind. The prose starts out very accessible, thought it gradually gets more dense as it goes.
sminismoni's review against another edition
3.0
Look, I appreciate the theory Mr Diamond is trying to promote. And quite probably it is true. However, I don't feel he successfully convinced me. Mostly this was due to a reliance on very limited real data, which was then wildly extrapolated into sweeping generalisations. For example, in Chapter 16, he asserts that China's long east-west rivers (The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers) facilitated sharing of technology, ideas etc. throughout China, supporting cultural and political unification. He then adds, that Western Europe has different terrain "and no such east-west rivers" (The Danube??) and hence has "resisted cultural and political unification to this day" (clearly he hasn't read up on the Holy Roman Empire).
Repeatedly, I felt as though facts were made to fit the theory, while alternative explanations were not sufficiently explored or disproven. Not that I believe race or IQ is the reason for the disparate technological progress of various continents, but I wish I could be as sure of Mr Diamond's hypothesis as he is.
Add to this lots and lots of oblique information and facts (as in the section on languages in Part 3), and we have not only a poorly proven theory, but also at times, a tedious read.
Repeatedly, I felt as though facts were made to fit the theory, while alternative explanations were not sufficiently explored or disproven. Not that I believe race or IQ is the reason for the disparate technological progress of various continents, but I wish I could be as sure of Mr Diamond's hypothesis as he is.
Add to this lots and lots of oblique information and facts (as in the section on languages in Part 3), and we have not only a poorly proven theory, but also at times, a tedious read.
nellyycurrie's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.5
Really enjoyed the first half and the stuff on food production. I am not without criticisms of the determinisms, but felt that more so during the second half. Afterward was good
kathryn1193's review against another edition
3.0
DNFd at 67%. Guys. I tried so hard to finish this book but I was straight up not having a good time.
riorda15's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the scope of this book. Diamond takes a highly academic subject and makes it accessible to the average person in this book. I only wish he would have carried his analysis through the rise of Europe. The epilogue attempts to full in the gaps but I thought he could have been well served but spending less time on the Austronesian's and covered from the decline of Mesopotamia to the rise of colonialism. In the beginning he promised to explain why Pizzaro's voyage was so much more advanced than Atahualpa's kingdom.
lacyleereads's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the book, but I wish it was longer and more in-depth. I didn't feel like it took the time it should have to really go into the questions I had. It left me wanting more, which isn't generally what I'm looking for in a non-fiction book such as this.
awesomebrandi's review against another edition
4.0
This is a nonfiction book that looks at the historical science reasoning on why some cultures dominated others. It has some highs and some lows, but that's probably due to my own interest level in some subjects over others. I really enjoy the nerdy passion that Jared Diamond writes with, and the fact that this book is pretty clearly anti-racist, and doesn't really hold back on declaring the absurdity of race based theories around domineering powers.
This book has a lot of focus on how agriculture processes and existing natural resources worked to shape which societies took power, and which didn't. Lots of history, biology, linguistics and other fun, nerdy stuff that all ties in with sociology. Despite the age of the book (originally published 1997), it holds up extremely well, and I found it both educational and endearing. It meanders slightly, but when you're trying to cover as much history and detail as he did, it's impressive that he remained fairly concise.
Good book, with a lot of potential talking points from an educational standpoint.
This book has a lot of focus on how agriculture processes and existing natural resources worked to shape which societies took power, and which didn't. Lots of history, biology, linguistics and other fun, nerdy stuff that all ties in with sociology. Despite the age of the book (originally published 1997), it holds up extremely well, and I found it both educational and endearing. It meanders slightly, but when you're trying to cover as much history and detail as he did, it's impressive that he remained fairly concise.
Good book, with a lot of potential talking points from an educational standpoint.