Guns, Germs, and Steel

E4036

Guns, Germs, and Steel is a widely influential book by Jared Diamond that explores how geography, environment, and the distribution of domesticable plants and animals shaped the unequal development of human societies.


Statements (50)
Predicate Object
instanceOf book
history book
non-fiction book
popular science book
adaptedAs television documentary series
arguesThat Eurasia’s east–west axis facilitated diffusion of crops, animals, and technologies
availability of domesticable plants and animals shaped early food production
food surpluses enabled population growth and social complexity
guns, steel, and germs gave Eurasians military and biological advantages
proximity to domesticated animals led to deadly germs that devastated other populations
author Jared Diamond
awarded Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
awardYear 1998
centralThesis geographic and environmental factors largely explain the unequal development of human societies
countryOfOrigin United States
criticizedBy some anthropologists
some historians
criticizedFor environmental determinism
underemphasizing culture and agency
documentaryBroadcaster PBS
documentaryReleaseYear 2005
genre anthropology
geography
history
sociology of development
influenced popular understanding of world history
public debates on global inequality
language English
notableChapterTopic conquest of the Inca Empire by the Spanish
origins of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent
spread of crops and livestock across Eurasia
partTitle Around the World in Five Chapters
From Eden to Cajamarca
From Food to Guns, Germs, and Steel
The Rise and Spread of Food Production
publicationYear 1997
publisher W. W. Norton & Company
received Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science
structure prologue and four parts
subject Eurasian expansion
domestication of animals
domestication of plants
environmental determinism
epidemic diseases
food production
geographic determinism
human societies
inequality between societies
technological development
subtitle The Fates of Human Societies


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