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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by
Start date
April 16, 2014
Finish date
April 16, 2014
Why we're reading this
A great introduction to the larger discussion of the forces that shaped civilization, history, and create…more

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Melanie
Nov 18, 2019 rated it liked it
This book has been haunting me or maybe a better way to paraphrase on my TBR list for 18 years when my then boyfriend started reading it. At the time he wanted to be an entomologist and I was a recent poly sci graduate going into public service. I found this book as an audio book and decided to finally conquer it. I saw one review that said it was all about germs and I am fascinated with germs/germ warfare, but I really didn't find it to be that way. I saw more of the development of agriculture ...more
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Timothy Volpert
Oct 26, 2015 rated it it was amazing
Really great run-down of the material factors that influenced the European conquest of most of the globe. I've seen a couple of reviewers criticize Diamond's overemphasis on material factors, and I think it's fair to say that there are certainly other things to be considered. Diamond, however, makes an excellent case for the importance of geography and natural resources in the rise of civilizations that can't be denied--especially as a refutation to racist assumptions that Europeans were somehow ...more
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Danielle
Jan 26, 2009 rated it liked it  ·  review of another edition
This was an interesting book. I had read excerpts for a "Politics and Problems of Developing Countries" class in college, but had always wanted to read the entire book. Mr. Diamond is a physiologist by training, not an anthropologist and in my opinion, this book felt like it was written by someone without an expertise in anthropology. That is, while it was well written and definitely intriguing, it really didn't provide a lot of evidence for his theories. He just kind of superficially glossed ov ...more
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Jeff Tate
Jul 06, 2010 rated it really liked it
Shelves: non-fiction-history, favorites
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Jul 30, 2010 rated it really liked it
Shelves: non-fiction, history, science
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