I recently went to Borders and got a copy of Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond. Now, I had heard of this previously, and especially last year when the The Ubiquitous Librarian was discussing it.
Well, its an interesting read so far. It discusses why certain regions in the world advanced and others didn't. If your looking for a book that looks at history, geology, biology, this book ticks every box.
1 comment:
Read James Blaut's review of GGS in his book called "Eight Eurocentric Historians."
Blaut demolishes Diamond's "scientific predestination of European superiority" theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel#Criticism_of_Eurocentrism_and_determinism
Diamond neglects to mentiont that almost all the major inventions prior to 1492 were not made by Europeans and that Europeas have never been a dominant global power until after 1492 (when they absorbed millions of tons of stolen Aztec and Inca gold and silver.)
Imagine what you could do if your paycheck was suddenly multiplied by six. That's what Aztec/Inca gold/silver did for Europe.
Read James Blaut. Caution for those infatuated with Jared Diamond: your heart will be broken after reading Blaut!
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