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  • Guns, Germs and Steel

  • The Fate of Human Societies
  • By: Jared Diamond
  • Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
  • Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (1,657 ratings)
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Guns, Germs and Steel

By: Jared Diamond
Narrated by: Doug Ordunio
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Summary

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 1998

Guns, Germs and Steel examines the rise of civilization and the issues its development has raised throughout history.

Having done field work in New Guinea for more than 30 years, Jared Diamond presents the geographical and ecological factors that have shaped the modern world. From the viewpoint of an evolutionary biologist, he highlights the broadest movements both literal and conceptual on every continent since the Ice Age, and examines societal advances such as writing, religion, government, and technology. Diamond also dissects racial theories of global history, and the resulting work—Guns, Germs and Steel—is a major contribution to our understanding the evolution of human societies.

©1997 Jared Diamond (P)2011 Random House
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Guns, Germs and Steel

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  • Overall
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Insightful book

I found the book very insightful and informative. Jared Diamond asks and offers proposed answers to many questions that ran through my mind regarding discrepancies development processes in early human societies.

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fascinating

great book with a wide ranging and thorough argument. I enjoyed the narrator a lot too.

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Great book, somnambulist narration

A really great shame that this is given the narrative momentum of a shopping list by the narrator. It’s a monotonous burble, ideal for falling asleep.

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If everyone read this book racism would not exist!

I loved this book and the author's peculiar approach to human 'development', replying to all questions I ever had on history. If this book would be a mandatory text book in primary schools, we would have a better world.

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superb

highly enlightening all the arguments are layed out in a clear and understandable way.

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Brilliant!

One of the best books I ever read. It will be an eye open how you perceive history, culture and human relations through time.
Everything is so interesting and well explained.
I highly recommend it.

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Required reading

Required reading. Very enlightened and accessible. Explains the modern world through ancient history. Highly recommended.

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great debunking of racist history

A fantastic journey through human history especially with a great focus on how human food production shaped and civilization. Thus the book succeeds in providing a scientific and through counter argument to white supremacist theory.

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Thourough

A book holding an incredible amount of information and explanation. I will need to read it again to be increase my comprehension and retention, but I don’t mind doing so.

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Totally compelling and full of surprises

Humanity over the last 13000 years. Who won. Who lost. When. And why. You won't know unless you read this book.
Many surprises. Best of all: How and why did an expedition set out from Borneo, sail 4000 miles across the Indian Ocean and successfully colonise Madagascar 2000 years ago?
The reader is outstanding and you will not want to stop at any point.

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