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Guns, Germs and Steel
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List Price: N/A
Our Price: $19.74
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 909
EAN: 9780739467350
ISBN: 0739467352
Label: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
Publication Date: 2005-06-30
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
Studio: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Must read
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Insightful, but too "politically correct"
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Long, but great read!
Comment: 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.
Customer Rating:
Summary: History to be read
Comment: I read this book a few months ago and still think about some of his theorys. I really enjoyed the book and am real glad I read It. Read this book as a must and draw your own conclusions.
Customer Rating:
Summary: zzzzzzzzzzzz
Comment: Huh what? Oh yeah reviewing this book. Yeah its a feel good story about how we are all equal, but different because of our environments. Oh yeah and don't forget we were once monkies. If your scared to death of race related topics around history and the evolution of mankind and different races in general, this is the book for you. True enough racism was a creation created by those wishing to feel better about themselves and their accomplishments, but I hardly felt convinced after reading this book that some races aren't simply a bit smarter or at the very least more creative. Of course your first thought when you read that is that I'm racist. Which is so not the case. I just have a hard time conforming to political correctness at the cost of our own educational benefit. It doesn't have to mean that some races are just smarter than others either, but maybe some races are just more at ease to live life a certain way. One thing I can say for certain is that some races just seem to have the attitude that good is never enough. They always are striving to do better. You put two people on a deserted island and one has himself a hut built within a week with a hammock, chair and table built to go inside, while the other just goes and lays under a big rock or fallen tree. You know the kinds of people I'm talking about. You say, well that is not race, that is particular people in general. Is it? I'm talking as a whole society, or course there are duds in every race.
Either way, this book has sold over 1 million copies it says, with about 900000 finding their ways to the trash soon after. The rest are force fed to history students. One thing for sure, the man sure can go on and on and on and on about nothing. I think he could have gotten the same point across in about half the pages of this near 500 page book. I gave it two stars because there were a couple of good stories in there. I can't say I didn't learn anything from the book, it was just really boring and I found it exhausting to have to read so much into him trying to nicely say no one is smarter than the next. I do agree however that some societies had it harder than others based on where they lived, but some were just lazy and or didn't care.
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