The greatest history of mankind
Comprehensive addition and revision of translations, authors personally wrote Chinese publication preface
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Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fate of Human Society
Author: [U.S.] Jared Diamond
Translator: Wang Daohuan Liao Yuejuan
Publisher: CITIC Publishing Group
In 1997, Jared Diamond published Guns, Germs and Steel, which, once listed, caused heated debate. Its subversiveness speaks for itself, and the first-mover advantage of civilization, which modern Western societies pride themselves on, is attributed in this book to the profound influences of the environment and geography. The physiologist places 13,000 years of human history in the context of research evidence from many disciplines, including evolutionary biology, anthropology, linguistics, archaeology, etc., and compares the development rate of continents and multi-ethnic groups, which is reasonable. Diamond also won the Pulitzer Prize in the United States and the Popular Science Book Award in the United Kingdom for this work.
Why did the Europeans conquer the New World with guns, germs and steel, rather than African or Native Americans crossing the seas to conquer Europe? Why do some societies already have a well-established social organization and a flourishing cultural achievement, while others are still in a primitive state without metal tools and hunting-gathering for a living? What determines the face of power and wealth distribution in today's world? The book attempts to answer the above questions. In Diamond's view, the emergence of food production has enabled Eurasia to seize the opportunity for the development of civilization, and writing, technology, government, etc. are all "by-products" of the grain surplus; and the variety of animals and plants and the direction of the continental axis determine the first and backwardness of food production on all continents, which is the ultimate reason that affects different races to follow different historical development trajectories. Thus, the fertility of the environment and resources has nourished Western civilization to take firm root in fertile soil and bear fruit quickly, rather than the biological superiority of the race itself.
Today, the wheel of human history depicted by Diamond in his book is still moving forward, and the crisis facing modern civilized society has long exceeded the dilemma of conquest and subjugation represented by guns, germs and steel. But humanity as a whole can still look to guns, germs, and steel as a whole in addressing the threats of global climate change, infectious disease pandemics, nuclear weapons, and resource depletion.
About the Author:
Jared Diamond, Professor of Physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, is one of the few contemporary thinkers to explore human society and civilization. Diamond's research has earned him numerous awards. His representative works include "Guns, Germs and Steel", "The Third Chimpanzee", "Collapse", "The World Before Yesterday", "Upheaval" and so on.
Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Sun Jun
Photo/ Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Sun Jun
Video/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City Reporter: Sun Jun
Guangzhou Daily Xinhuacheng editor Dai Yujing