Guns, Germs, and Steel The Fates of Human Societies

First Line:

We all know that history has proceeded very differently for peoples from different parts of the globe.

Description:

This history examines the influences of geography and environment on the development of civilization and seeks to find large patterns that might explain why, in the modern period, some groups seem to have significantly greater material wealth than others. The author is an evolutionary biologist and his scientific approach to human history draws on examples from societies all over the world.

Selected Reviews:

"[Diamond's] masterful synthesis is a refreshingly unconventional history informed by anthropology, behavioral ecology, linguistics, epidemiology, archeology and technological development."

--Publishers Weekly

Awards:

Winner: Pulitzer Prize, 1998