A work of extraordinary ambition, “Guns Germs, and Steel” volunteers an answer to a pressing question : why do some societies today seem to have more than others?
In response, Diamond takes readers on an incomprehensibly, comprehensive tour of 13,000 years of human history across continents to show how peoples’ environments ultimately shaped the fates of their societies. Food production led to societies of increasing complexity which necessitated governments, writing, and technology. At times pedantic, but never reductive, Diamond provides critical insight for anyone curious about the human condition and how the world came to be the way it is.