Guns Germs and Steel - Do You Agree with the Author's Take on History

“Guns, Germs, and Steel,” by Jared Diamond is without a doubt a very interesting read that gives you a different perspective about history. The main thesis of the book involves Diamond trying to answer Yali’s question “Why is it that you white people developed so much cargo and brought it to New Guinea, but we black people had little cargo of our own?” Diamond is able to answer Yali’s question with the title of the book guns, germs, and steel. He believed that these three factors are the main reasons why some civilizations flourished while others floundered. While the book has won the Pulitzer award, it has also been a target of much criticism from historians and scientists alike. I believe that Diamond was able to back up his thesis and convinced me that guns, germs and steel were a very vital part of the success experienced by Eurasians civilizations. The first factor touched upon by Diamond in his book was the fact that geography was, one of, if not the most important factor that lead to the rise of civilizations. While this topic has been a subject of debate, I personally agree that diamond was correct in his belief of geography’s importance. The emergence of such societies in Eurasia was not simply by luck. It was directly related to environmental causes. One of the causes was that certain crops and animals that were both suitable for domestications were available in these Eurasian areas. To put it in perspective, of the world’s only 14 domesticable animals 13 of them were found in Eurasia, and one in South America. This gave the Eurasians a huge advantage as a civilization. This allowed them to begin working towards agriculture as a civilization, while many of the people in the “new world” rarely developed past a hunter gatherer civilization. These environmental advantages were also enhanced by another fact that Diamond touches upon in his book that, “Eurasia’s large landmass and long east-west distance increased these advantages.” Crops and

Bibliography: McNeill, J.R. "The World According to Jared Diamond." February 2001. The History Teacher. 11 March 2012 .