A historical look at how humanity evolved based on the region they are in both biologically and culturally. Basically why Europe discovered the New World and not the other way around.
Review:
A well written look at societal development. I recommend it for anyone interested in history, however take everything written in it with a grain of salt. Some of Diamond's "facts" have been called into question, however the over arching theme is well worth reading. It is also written in a way that makes it accessible to everyone no matter how much historical knowledge they have. (though historians and history students may laugh at parts of the theory for ridiculousness and inaccuracies)
8/10
Notable Quotes:
"History followed different courses for different peoples because of differences among peoples' environments, not because of biological differences among peoples themselves"
If you enjoyed this you should read:
The True Story of the Conquest of New Spain- Bernal Díaz del Castillo (if interested in Latin America)
Aztec - Gary Jennings (historical fiction)
The Tulip - Anna Pavord (if you like well written histories that introduce new and unusual ideas)
Heheh, yeah I started reading this one about 3 years back, glad I'm waiting to get back into it so I can recognize some of the challenges to his statements I didn't catch on my first go-round :P
ReplyDelete