A review by jeffmauch
Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond

5.0

A solid history book from Jared Diamond isn't a surprise really, but just how much I enjoyed it truly was. I went into this thinking I'd find the exploration of how different nations deal with a major crisis to be boring, but it couldn't have been further from the truth. The first chapter exploring how individual people deal with crisis was somewhat boring, but from there on out it was hard to put the book down. I think a big reason for that is many of the historical events used as examples in this book are one's that I am familiar with, but which I lack a deep understanding. Sure, I most people have an idea of post WW2 Germany, the Berlin airlifts and Berlin wall and how that played out, but many are far less familiar with Finland's winter war with Russia prior to WW2, or how the Japanese reacted to their post isolation years after Commodore Perry sailed into their waters. This was a thought provoking read that has piqued my interests in a few historical events that I clearly need to learn more about.