Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

I have only read the introduction and the first chapter, but already given up.The book seems to be premised around the notion of the Great Leap Forward. However three recent discoveries would seem to seriously call into question this notion; Pre-Clovis occupation 14,550 years ago at the Page-Ladson site, Florida; U-Th dating of carbonate crusts has revealed Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art; a bone fragment from Denisova Cave (Russia) shows that it came from an individual who had a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father.I will happily read the rest of the book, when the author reviews his theories in the light of these recent developments.

Having read Sapiens with its great anthropological history of man I wanted more of the same. I got this based on other reviews and am disappointed. It starts with a man who has obviously been to New Guinea and felt a connection with the people there. This connection continues throughout what is an impenetrable book. The tiny writing and boring recounting of human history from A to J then back to D is like a Tarantino film. I couldn’t tell you if it ties together or not in the end as I kept skipping forward to the next chapter. Don’t believe the hype.

With apologies to the author, whose book I really want to read. It just isn’t possible to open this (B-format) edition without the knowledge that you’ll have a migraine after 5 pages. The publisher has clearly taken a cost-saving decision to shrink the pages from the hardback rather than reflow the text. Very disappointed.

Generally the books faults are covered by other reviews and I think bill brysons short history is much accessible.My chief issue though is the stupidly small font. It was a chore to read frankly and had I opened this before the expiry date for returns I’d have sent it back once I saw the font.It sounds like a petty thing to mention but when it’s a thick book on a dense topic having it in what seems like 7pt just makes no sense whatsoever. The publisher really ought to know better.

Jared Diamond takes a giant leap back into history, to take us forward, through a lot of things, most of which I was unaware, until now. It is interesting, somewhat controversial and there are a lot of generalizations, some of which are questionable even. Though I wish there was more focus on Asian history/societies, one thing that amazed me is the amount of proof the author has sighted, that too from various disciplines, to prove his point. And to use these evidences to make a grand theory, or form an original idea/opinion is no joke. In that way, it is a well researched and often well defended book.Hence, it is path breaking, inspiring, there is a lot of detail (and yes, of course, some speculation) and will be a great experience for someone ready to invest his/her time to understand human societies.P.S. There is a documentary, based on this book, by National Geographic, which is quite gripping.