Guns, Germs, and Steel

The Fates of Human Societies

By: Jared Diamond

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize Winner, General Nonfiction, 1998

In this groundbreaking work, evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history by revealing the environmental factors actually responsible for history's broadest patterns. It is a story that spans 13,000 years of human history, beginning when Stone Age hunter-gatherers constituted the entire human population. Guns, Germs, and Steel is a world history that really is a history of all the world's peoples, a unified narrative of human life.

©1997 Jared Diamond (P)2001 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"The scope and explanatory power of this book are astounding." (The New Yorker)

"Guns, Germs, and Steel is an artful, informative, and delightful book....There is nothing like a radically new angle of vision for bringing out unsuspected dimensions of a subject." (The New York Review of Books)

Stunning

Very few books actually change your view of reality. This one will...

Interesting explaining the how and why civilizati

explaining the how and why civilizations evolved the way they did because of resources and locations.

Must read

Meticulously outlined, the story of mankind’s origins and progression is finally given some valuable context. This book is a little dry, but it provides rich knowledge for the arguments against racism.

Interesting and thought provoking

Interesting theory summarizing all of history based on geography, flora, fauna, guns, germs, and steel.

Abridged Version not enough

Just when you start to follow his ideas and find them interesting...it ends! I got the plants, animals and germs part but I guess I have to buy the book to get the guns and steel ending!
Interesting and enlightening audiobook though.

Very interesting listen.

I absolutely enjoyed this book, when I would stop listening I couldn't wait until I started again. He has some very interesting theories and facts that are presented in an enjoyable educational way. Although some of the theories presented I don't agree with, he does list some important things to think about. If you are fascinated by culture, and want to understand the history of humans this is a good place to start.

Interesting takes

Some interesting theories are proposed. Narration was good. I be listened twice and enjoy history. Boo feels like a good professor giving a 3-4 class seminar.

Fantastic Narration of Fascinating Facts

More than liked it, admired is more on point. My father recommended this book after watching the Nat Geo documentary. He is an excellent source of great learning. I’m considering this book to be a cornerstone in building a solid understanding of why and how things are the way they are. By things, I mean human civilization. Fortunately the narration was audibly pleasant and commanded my attention. (Not all great books on Audible have great narration, in fact a sad few are intolerable to listen to. Thank you Audible for your no questions asked return policy!)

Better as text

This is an excellent book, as is also Collapse by the same author. But it is a good example of a book that is, IMHO, unsuited for audiobook format.

SoSo

This book presents the theory that geography and distribution of resources, not genetics, is responsible for the vast disparity in wealth that we see today.

The author presents his argument thoroughly and I certainly learned a few things from this book.

Unfortunately, I also found it quite tedious in parts; I remember a seemingly endless recitation of different crops and their development in different parts of the world. By 3/4 of the way through I was contemplating skipping the rest.

Perhaps I lack sufficient interest in this topic. I nonetheless will probably try his other book (about why societies fail IIRC) when it comes out on Audible.