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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I loved Guns, Germs and Steel, and I really wanted to love this book too, but maybe the subject matter was too depressing for me. As with Guns etc., JD does a fabulous job pulling disparate fields of study together to illustrate how with societies collapse, but it was so grim! Do we ever learn anything?! I had the same trouble with E. O. Wilson's "The Future of Life". I would love to know how to better balance the knowledge of how and why things happen with a sense of terrible inevitabilty and futility.
Started it in May 2006... and just finished in June 2009—except I skipped the whole 100-page section on Greenland.
The book got all kinds of kudos, and it's true that he draws on a staggering amount of information and there's nothing quite like it out there.
But a lot of the writing is terribly dry—not like how I remember Guns, Germs, and Steel being a page-turner—giving long lists of how things are falling apart.
In short it's an amazing resource, but could have been much better. Pick and choose bits to read as you please.
The book got all kinds of kudos, and it's true that he draws on a staggering amount of information and there's nothing quite like it out there.
But a lot of the writing is terribly dry—not like how I remember Guns, Germs, and Steel being a page-turner—giving long lists of how things are falling apart.
In short it's an amazing resource, but could have been much better. Pick and choose bits to read as you please.
What an amazing and informative book! Diamond takes you through numerous past and present societies that have collapsed or are on the verge of collapsing, and analyzes the reasons for the societal collapses. If one is not interested in the historical aspect of past societies, one should definitely still read the book for its environmental points. It is a must read for anyone remotely interested in civilizations and/or current environmental issues.
Diamond explores the causes of societal collapse by examining the failure of earlier societies such as the Easter Islanders and the Greenland Norse. This is a worthy successor to Guns, Germs and Steel, though it is not as engaging to read.
It's a good book; I just don't read nonfiction fast enough for library books.
Diamond, once again, provides an informative and interesting read. He outlines the elements and influences that effect change in human's history. Anyone interested in history or humans place in the world would find this book a must read.