Collapse

How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

By: Jared Diamond

Narrated by: Christopher Murney

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

In his million-copy best seller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond examined how and why Western civilizations developed the technologies and immunities that allowed them to dominate much of the world. Now in this brilliant companion volume, Diamond probes the other side of the equation: what caused some of the great civilizations of the past to collapse into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates?

As in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Diamond weaves an all-encompassing global thesis through a series of fascinating historical-cultural narratives. Moving from the Polynesian cultures on Easter Island to the flourishing American civilizations of the Anasazi and the Maya and finally to the doomed Viking colony on Greenland, Diamond traces the fundamental pattern of catastrophe. Environmental damage, climate change, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of these societies, but other societies found solutions and persisted. Similar problems face us today and have already brought disaster to Rwanda and Haiti, even as China and Australia are trying to cope in innovative ways. Despite our own society's apparently inexhaustible wealth and unrivaled political power, ominous warning signs have begun to emerge even in ecologically robust areas like Montana.

Brilliant, illuminating, and immensely absorbing, Collapse is destined to take its place as one of the essential books of our time, raising the urgent question: how can our world best avoid committing ecological suicide?

©2004 Jared Diamond (P)2004 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A thought-provoking book." (Booklist)
"An enthralling, and disturbing, reminder of the indissoluble links that bind humans to nature." (Publishers Weekly)

Must read!

This book should be required reading for everyone living in a developed country in the 21st century. Whether or not you agree with his conclusions, Diamond raises valuable questions in his comparison of current societies to those of the past. This book should help listeners view present-day cultures as situated in history, something citizens of the USA are all too likely to loose sight of. It is a powerful reminder that "infallibility" is an illusion, and that power is fickle. Diamond can be criticized by specialists for a few incorrect archaeological details. However, in my opinion these mistakes do not detract from the powerful, synthetic message he conveys. The book is long and reads (in text) somewhat unevenly; if you won't actually have the time to sit down and get all the way through it with the printed page, this abridged version has all the essentials and is just as thought-provoking.

great naration

Was a great work.Also A wealth of knowlage I will listen to it over and over to remind myself of my duty as a human cohabiting with others.I am a bering sea fisherman and would love if the auther did a whole book just on fishing oceans and forestry,farming. And there subsaquent relation to one another .sincerly Justin
France

A classic

Any additional comments?

I have now seen a tv show based on the book, read excerpts of the book, and listened to the full audio version. I must say that while the topic lends itself nicely to a visual presentation, I got the most out my Audible version. Why? It forced me to examine things too easily glossed over by a reader's eye half-fixated on the clock and visuals that too easily molded my tv-tuned gaze into a kind of flashy tunnel vision. The most important issues raised by Diamond really require the reader to hit the pause button and ponder. It is in these moments that extrapolations become most vivid because they are very personal and immediate. Yes, one could summarize the main themes and points of this book rather quickly, but that would be a shame. The book should be taken in slowly and its final pages should serve as the beginning of any reader's exploration of the matter, not the end.

Captivating & educational

the narrator brought some life and flow to what could have been a dry subject.

Collapse

Approximately 1/3 of the way through this book it's impressive. Diamond has a gift for storytelling and an understanding of this thesis that makes this book well worth absorbing. He deftly weaves the story of modern Montanna into his studies of the past.

An analysis of a complex topic

This (audio)book is a detailed analysis of why societies succeed or fail. It has an environmental slant to it since throughout much of human history societies were tied intimately to their immediate surroundings through agriculture. Not surprisingly, a topic as complex as societal collapse can't be boiled down to "Collapse for Dummies"---a lot of evidence needs to be described and analyzed, and a set of multiple causative factors explained. This makes the book very involved, which is nice, because most popular science books are fluffy and boring.

I'm astounded by reviewers who complain that he only presents societies that failed (he presents several that succeeded); that he claims that environmental causes are the main factor in collapse (he does not claim this---in fact, he says specifically that he is not saying that!); that he is an enviro-apocalyptic (he does not claim we are doomed); or that he is simply spewing some sort of liberal mantra of envrionmentalism. I figure that reviewers who claim such things have neither read nor listened to the book.

I think that this particular book is one where the abridgement is actually a good thing; Diamond has the academic's habit of presenting the outline of an argument that he will give you eventually, presenting the argument, then presenting a presentation of the argument, then presenting a summary of the presentation of the argument. The abridgement is good because it cuts out at least two steps here.

The narrator is fine, and sounds somewhat similar to the author.

Fascinating

I've never been so fascinated by soil samples and erosion. This book is both scholorly and amusing in it's presentation of science, archeological techniques, personal accounts and anecdotes. And how could one pick a more mysterious and engaging subject than the dissapearance of a society?

Average

You can tell this guy is a big environmental apocalyptic. His points no doubt are interesting and well researched but he always comes to the conclusion that it is environmental damage that leads to collapse. Maybe early civilizations didn't have the technology or education to overcome these problems? Although he disputes that as well saying we should never think technology will solve our worries because it only creates more unforseen problems.
He doesn't mention much about the effects of intellectuals and leaders in early civilizations either. You can't expect any population to survive with a uneducated mass that depends on the gods or mystical leaders for crops and rain.
I also think he completely ignores modern civilizations problems. In the Middle East and Africa, the majority of people are uneducated and poor. These people could care less about their environment so of course they are going to wreck them. What keeps them in this state? It is there leaders, government or dictators. Their decisions, corruption and inaction wreak havoc on societies. How can you expect any socialist, communist or theocratic philosophy to sustain a population? Those people are completely dependent on their leaders and if the leaders are inept, they are doomed to fail.
Interesting book but had to keep the caffiene pumping to get through it.

Engaging

This book is an engaging review of historic collapses of civilizations. The author can't quite hide his left-leaning environmental orientation, but still keeps the book reasonably centered. It would be a good read for kids in school as it demonstrates that the long historic record of mankind is that he is not a steward of his environment.

Pause for Thought

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, written by: Jared Diamond, and narrated by: Christopher Murney. The book analyzes why past civilizations collapsed and whether their lessons are prelude to our future. The book makes the argument for environmental change as a cause of the failure of almost all past civilizations. There are eight main causes. deforestation, soil deterioration, loss of or de-purification of water, over removal of natural food sources, introduction of alien species into environments, too much population and impact of social customs. The last category never really being broached in the book. The prior seven subjects are certainly well presented and very interesting to consider. This book leaves us with concern, but notwithstanding its negative concerns, it is a primer on how to consider ecological wrongs we are now doing to our earth; our previously fair system.

Diamond travels to all points of the world and visits all forms of past civilizations from the pre-historical, to the archaic to the last few hundred years to present day. The universality of how we as a species undermines itself is stunning. Is there hope? Collapse gives no guaranty, only the opportunity to understand and react positively, r not. Andy why not, as no society of humans has ever saved itself before. Could Collapse give us the opportunity now. Read and consider.