Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies (Hardcover)

Jared Diamond is essentially telling a story, one that weaves together geography, anthropology, economics, politics, and culture into a fascinating and important read. The text is not overly academic, so it is palatable to a wide audience - and it should be accessible to a wide audience as it essentially uses science (rather than cultural explanations) to offer a very reasonable account of the broad outlines of human demographic history over the past 13,000 years. His key concern and aim is to show that the relative fortunes of different peoples has nothing to do with racial differences but is primarily a function of geographical and bio-ecological good (or bad) fortune. He seems aware of, but denies, charges of geographical determinism - yet the book seems to keep making the case that there is a strong case for these factors being the most important in deciding a people's relative (economic) position. The access to domestic table plants and animals that can, through farming, generate a surplus that will ultimately support a larger population, technical specialists and complex political structures as well as initially exposing its people to a whole range of infectious diseases and then building up resistance to them is an argument very well made. As a teacher, I can envision myself using it to help students to think critically about their preconceived ideas about other human beings, many from far-flung places that they may know little about. It can help challenge the notions many students have about "superiority" of culture. religions, and even economic systems. Considering that it is intended for a wide-audience, I can see parts of the book used with almost any high school level.

Rebecca Nazario Wright
Falk School
1st/2nd Grade
Wow – what a thoroughly enjoyable “assignment!” While the DVD was interesting, I found the reading to be especially fascinating (to such a degree that I read the whole book!). While the website for GG&S was neat, I found the content to be a bit on the skimpy side in terms of Asian references, and the lesson plans are (understandably) geared toward middle and high school students. Not much here for a first grade teacher in terms of future social studies lessons, but…
It was interesting – I knew a lot of what Diamond was talking about, but I had never thought of it in that way before. For example, we all learned at some point that writing and steel were important milestones in cultural development, that disease helped paved the way for explorers to the “New World,” etc, but Diamond made the tremendous impact of these inventions and events very clear, and made the ripple effects of the successes and failures of certain societies very obvious. Even when discussing the complexities of language and migration (particularly in the Japan & Africa chapters), he made these complex analyses of history very accessible. I find that the “subtitle” for the book “A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13, 000 Years” to be absolutely spot on. I found the notion that a brew of a bit of luck, a bit of geography, and a bit of timing was what shaped the evolution of modern society to be a brilliant one, and a brilliantly simple one, too. The reader is left saying “well, when he puts it like that, it makes total sense.” The real beauty of this material is that Diamond took information and theories that can be hopelessly dense and chewy and made them light and airy and fun to read. I found the book to be hopelessly addictive. At first, after completing the China chapter, I figured, well let me read about Japan. Then that led to the New Guinea chapter…and so on.
Over all, I found the Diamond book to be a must-have for any teacher. I’m sure that with a few more re-reads and some clever editing while planning, I could sneak some of his theories into a 1st or 2nd grade level geography or social studies lesson!