Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing historical analysis that leaves you rethinking.
Review: Good analysis gets beyond proximate causes and into the actual causes for general technological development. It's presentation is balanced and reasonable not fanatical or political. Centered on the attempt to answer the question about the conquest of the New World by the Old, as opposed to the other way around. Primarily focussed on the presense of raw animal and plant materials for the development of domestication. But overall provides a fairly lucid presentation of human history before writing, which is typically inadequately dealt with in history books. For me, the only thing I didn't like was the title. The best pre-historical history book I have read. One apparent lacunae to me was neglecting the effect of the Mediterranean on the development of Southern Europe and North Africa. The Third Chimpanzee is also as good, but focusses instead on human development. Both are enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking perspective on history
Review: Reading the reviews that customers have given, I am struck by the polarization of views that are represented. I am particularly impressed with those who take offense at what is perceived to be a "PC" perspective on world history. Many Western readers appear to bridle at the author's statments in which he portrays the intelligence of aboriginal peoples as superior to those descended from white Europeans. Given the subject matter I guess it should not be surprising that politics cannot be left out. If anything, perhaps Diamond should have been more diplomatic. But I do appreciate his perspective which, in the general run of history books available, is still rather new. I find that I do not view the food on my table the same way after reading the book. I believe this is Diamond's greatest contribution -- that he brings the eye of an avid birdwatcher and evolutionary biologist to the canvas of human history. I do not recommend reading it because of political inclinations. I recommend it because it makes one think. Thinking in this manner is (dare I say it?) fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful, unique and stunning.
Review: Diamond has written one of the absolute best, most fascinating books to come along in years. It demonstrates conclusively why the cross-pollenization of ideas across different disciplines can offer new insights. Diamond brings evolutionary biology, archaeology, ethnobiology, history, antropology, politics and sociology together in a manner that leaves the reader sitting in stunned silence. The state of the world and the last 40,000 years of human history have never been clearer.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking and compelling despite its verbosity
Review: Jared Diamond's book should be praised for tackling the question of "Why is today's world the way it is?" without shrinking from potential controversy. Mr. Diamond presents a compelling argument as to why our world has been shaped Occidental civilization. However his prose is too dense and can lose readers who aren't willing to wade through it to find the gems of his insight. Arguably, the greatest strength of this book is the author's courage to explain our world's recent historical dominance by the West in the face of a certain backlash. Kudos also for the evenhanded treatment of all societies.
Rating: 
Summary: A Zircon not a Diamond
Review: An interesting but tendentious view of the world's prehistory. Avers the inspiration for the book was a Papuan who asked why the Europeans have so much 'cargo'. Since, according to Diamond, the Papuan's are more intelligent than Europeans, how is it that the that they came to be dominant? The Papuan Yali's question is an irritating refrain throughout the book. The constant genuflections to PC orthodoxy makes one throw this volume against the wall. However his thesis that certain biogeogrpahic factors gave Eurasia an unbeatable head start is well made. A cogent and incisive explanation of the biologic underpinnings of civilization. At times, such as the narrative of the Austronesian expansion across the Pacific, bordering on the majestic. All ruined by his interjection of PC blather. You really have to concentrate to separate his substance from his tone. Also, be prepared to have a good dictionary and encyclopedia handy to decipher some of the arcana. At least you can expand your vocabulary to include sedge, vetch, weir, tef, etc. Lots of little gems here but you've got to work hard to mine them. The five star gushes below obviously didn't understand it while the one star rants probably didn't read it. As long as you heed my warnings, go ahead and get it. Then read Landes as an antidote.
Rating:
Summary: Eddie Murphy, Dan Akroyd, "Trading Places" and history
Review: In the 1980's film "Trading Places" Eddie Murphy andDan Akroyd traded places as part of a $1 bet, made by two owners of acommodity trading firm. One bet that good commodities brokers were born and bred, genetically, so to speak, while the other, equally vociferously argued that it was only training that counted and that genetics and breeding counted for nothing. The argument was nature vs. nurture and, being the 80's, nurture naturally won. Jared Diamond's book is to world history what Trading Places was to the nature/nurture debate---a well thought out but highly subjective treatment. Maybe someday we will be able to dispassionately discuss the issue, but Guns, Germs, and Steel is not the place to get that treatment. The book is as skewed to the belief that only environmental factors affect success---the society with the most varities of domesticatable plants and animals will, over time, prevail over all other societies---as say The Myth of the 20th Century, the infamous guide to Nazism that pre-dated Mein Kampf, is skewed toward the belief that only genetics determines success. Both are well documented and passionately argued, and equally oversimplified. Read it, by all means, but don't necessarily believe it all. The book has its strengths---its historical accounts of Pizarro's conquest of South America is fascinating. But some of his theories, and remember, this is all theory, are weak.
Rating:
Summary: Yes
Review: A very provocative book for the unintiated. For those with a curiosity for the history of the world but with little more than a host of opinions to work with, this book is a lightning strike. Although repetitive by the end, the book states quite clearly a very compelling thesis for the reasons the world is the way it is today. Short on sociology (why the Spanish conquered South America has to do with more than their ability to do so; why did they feel the need to conquer and destroy as opposed to just discover and co-exist?) but gob-smackingly long and precise on entho-biology and -geography, this book will please and thrill the open-minded. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A must-read to understand our world today
Review: This is a truly original book. It tackles the question of why europeans and their descendants are running most of the show in the world. The answer: ideal initial conditions. Diamond does a good job citing examples from other cultures at other times, to show how different groups have spread across continents, invariably wiping out the inhabitants that were already there. The book does not condone this behavior. If anything, it dispels pseudoscience notions of racial superiority - and instead provides a balanced view of history and race. If we learn anything from Mr. Diamond's book - it is that we all have much more in common than any of us lets on. And the division between the haves and have-nots of history is mostly the result of chance. My only critique: the book runs a little longer than it needs to. The main thesis is easy to grasp, and the book would benefit from being edited down by a chapter or so.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely everyone should read this book!
Review: I can't say enough good things about this book. There is no question why it won a Pulitzer. Not only is it comprehensive (try 30,000 years of human history and evolution) but it's an easy read! You must absolutely read Guns, Germs & Steel if you want your opinions about the world's cultures to be based on facts and reason, and not the biases propagated by the innumberable ethnocentrists that influence our media and daily lives.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting perspective on the conquering of the world
Review: Excellent explanation of how certain societies overtook the world. I judge my books by my desire to discuss it with other people. Guns, Germs, and Steel make it into all my dinner conversations. My only complaint is that the end of the book gets a little slow
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