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In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion --as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war --and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history.
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Publisher:
New York : Books on Tape, 2011.
Edition:
Unabridged.
ISBN:
9780307932440
Characteristics:
1 online resource.
Subjects:
Nonfiction eaudiobooks.
Downloadable audiobooks.
Culture diffusion.
Human beings -- Effect of environment on.
Ethnology.
Civilization -- History.
Social evolution.
Downloadable audiobooks.
Culture diffusion.
Human beings -- Effect of environment on.
Ethnology.
Civilization -- History.
Social evolution.
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Add a CommentThis is the first audiobook I've listened to, and I really enjoyed it! It did contain a lot of dense information, but was presented well.
I don't understand why some history buffs write off Guns, Germs, & Steel as racist or low quality. This book provides answers to many questions I've wondered about and a somewhat easily accessible introduction to modern human development across all continents.
However, as an audiobook, this is a tough piece of writing to follow, especially in the last several chapters when Diamond references tables of data.
If you are considering the audiobook version, don't bother. I have listened to 30-40 audiobooks in the past 18 months, and the narrator of Guns, Germs, & Steel (Doug Ordunio) is easily my least favorite narrator of them all. It sounds like he has a head cold ("NNNnnn" droning sound) and he pauses unnaturally while reading Diamond's frequent dependent clauses and run-on sentences. Basically, you will find yourself constantly rewinding (and this audiobook is 16+ hours long as it is).
This is a fascinating look at the development of human societies over the last 13,000 years. Diamond has been criticized for some aspects of his ideas but his sweeping view of human development is informative and interesting.