Guns, Germs and Steel - A Short History of Everbody for the Last 13,000 Years (Paperback, Reissue)

The fate of the native Americans was sealed in the late Pleistocene when their ancestors, spreading across the continent, wiped out the large land mammals. The lack of suitable creatures to domesticate at a later stage of cultural development left the people with no resistance to the kind of germs - flu, tuberculosis, measles - that humans originally picked up from cattle and pigs. It was germ warfare that enabled a few boatloads of Spaniards to subjugate the Americas. Geography, climate and microbiology are the mainstays of Diamond's overview of evolution, which sets out to demolish racism and to answer the interesting question, 'Why did wealth and power become distributed as they now are, rather than in some other way?' He makes the answer seem so obvious that you think you could have figured it out for yourself. The very broad sweep entails some omissions and generalizations, but the result is a solid basis for the study of history. (Kirkus UK)

GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL is nothing less than an enquiry into the reasonswhy Europe and the Near East became the cradle of modern societies- eventually giving rise to capitalism and science, the dominant forces in our contemporary world-and why,until modern times. Africa, Australasia and the Americas lagged behind in technological sophistication and in political and military power. The native peoplesof those continents are still suffering the consequences. Diamond shows definitively that the origins of this inequality in human fortunes cannot be laid at the door of race or inherent features of the people themselves. He argues that the inequality stems instaed from the differing natural resources available to the people of each continent.

General

Imprint:	Vintage
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	June 1998
First published:	April 2000
Authors:	Jared Diamond
Dimensions:	198 x 130 x 39mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	480
Edition:	Reissue
ISBN-13:	978-0-09-930278-0
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Economic history Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > Social & cultural anthropology > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > Economic history Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > History > World history > General
LSN:	0-09-930278-0
Barcode:	9780099302780

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