Guns, germs, and steel
Subtitle: the fates of human societies
By: Jared Diamond.
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Published: 2003
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 494
Subjects: Social evolution; Civilization -- History; Ethnology; Human beings -- Effect of environment on; Culture diffusion
Notes: "With a new afterword about the modern world"--Cover.

Includes "Reading group guide"--p. [495-496].

Includes bibliographical references (p. 442-471) and index.
Table of contents: label: Preface to the Paperback Edition; label: PROLOGUE
title: YALI’S QUESTION; title: The regionally differing courses of history; label: PART ONE
title: FROM EDEN TO CAJAMARCA; label: CHAPTER 1
title: UP TO THE STARTING LINE; title: What happened on all the continents before 11,000 B.C.?; label: CHAPTER 2
title: A NATURAL EXPERIMENT OF HISTORY; title: How geography molded societies on Polynesian islands; label: CHAPTER 3
title: COLLISION AT CAJAMARCA; title: Why the Inca emperor Atahuallpa did not capture King Charles I of Spain; label: PART TWO
title: THE RISE AND SPREAD OF FOOD PRODUCTION; label: CHAPTER 4
title: FARMER POWER; title: The roots of guns, germs, and steel; label: CHAPTER 5
title: HISTORY’S HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS; title: Geographic differences in the onset of food production; label: CHAPTER 6
title: TO FARM OR NOT TO FARM; title: Causes of the spread of food production; label: CHAPTER 7
title: HOW TO MAKE AN ALMOND; title: The unconscious development of ancient crops; label: CHAPTER 8
title: APPLES OR INDIANS; title: Why did peoples of some regions fail to domesticate plants?; label: CHAPTER 9
title: ZEBRAS, UNHAPPY MARRIAGES, AND THEANNA KARENINA PRINCIPLE; title: Why were most big wild mammal species never domesticated?; label: CHAPTER 10
title: SPACIOUS SKIES AND TILTED AXES; title: Why did food production spread at different rates on different continents?; label: PART THREE
title: FROM FOOD TO GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL; label: CHAPTER 11
title: LETHAL GIFT OF LIVESTOCK; title: The evolution of germs; label: CHAPTER 12
title: BLUEPRINTS AND BORROWED LETTERS; title: The evolution of writing; label: CHAPTER 13
title: NECESSITY’S MOTHER; title: The evolution of technology; label: CHAPTER 14
title: FROM EGALITARIANISM TO KLEPTOCRACY; title: The evolution of government and religion; label: PART FOUR
title: AROUND THE WORLD IN FIVE CHAPTERS; label: CHAPTER 15
title: YALI’S PEOPLE; title: The histories of Australia and New Guinea; label: CHAPTER 16
title: HOW CHINA BECAME CHINESE; title: The history of East Asia; label: CHAPTER 17
title: SPEEDBOAT TO POLYNESIA; title: The history of the Austronesian expansion; label: CHAPTER 18
title: HEMISPHERES COLLIDING; title: The histories of Eurasia and the Americas compared; label: CHAPTER 19
title: HOW AFRICA BECAME BLACK; title: The history of Africa; label: EPILOGUE
title: THE FUTURE OF HUMAN HISTORY AS A SCIENCE; label: 2003 Afterword
title: Guns, Germs, and Steel Today; label: Acknowledgments; label: Further Readings; label: Credits; label: INDEX