Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond

"An alternative to the Acemoglu/Robinson thesis. Economic history owes a lot to geographic endowment; for example, Africa lacked large mammals that could be domesticated. " - The Economist

"'Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope . . . one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years.' Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: the global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race...

"An alternative to the Acemoglu/Robinson thesis. Economic history owes a lot to geographic endowment; for example, Africa lacked large mammals that could be domesticated. " - The Economist

"'Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope . . . one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years.' Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: the global account of the rise of civilization that is also a stunning refutation of ideas of human development based on race...