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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
 

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Jared M Diamond

In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from... (read more)

Top tags: history,  environment,  anthropology,  science,  sociology (all tags)

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Other Reviews

Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

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3 of 3 members found this review helpful.
QCN
  • Rated 4 stars

“Learning from History?

Collapse
By Jared Diamond
Viking Penguin, 2005
$29.95

This book sat on my nightstand for a year patiently waiting its turn. I had read Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer Prize winning book “Guns, Germs,and Steel” and must admit that although I had enjoyed that book, the density of it had relegated “Collapse” to a position in the slow lane of my reading list.

It was not until an unlikely recommender, a former professional tennis player...”

QCN’s full review »
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Community:
  • Rated 4.013207 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • Paul Y

    paul y said:

    “I like the easter island story, most likely that is how we might end up with. globalization seems to speed this process up a little bit. under current popluation and economy growth rate, what will happen when the consumption rate of natural resource exceeds production globally ?”

    posted Tuesday, August 26 2008
  • Mike B)

    mike b) said:

    “What's the most important thing one can do to save global human civilization from Collapse now?”

    posted Monday, April 28 2008
  • miralina

    miralina said:

    “This book was absolutely PACKED with information. It took me a long time to read, just because I had to absorb information from each section. It was really fascinating.”

    posted Wednesday, April 23 2008 ( | view 1 reply )
  • Tanuki

    tanuki said:

    “This book pretty much says if we do not get our shit together and change our ways as a civilization we are going down. Diamond is an optimist. I think it is pretty much going down no matter what we do. But that is me. Diamond is more qualified to have an opinion than I do if that helps you any.
    So, I liked this one more than Guns Germs and Steel and found the argument more compelling and convincing. Guns Germs and Steel read to much like an apology from the White race for taking over and dominating the world for the last several millennia. Perhaps the Chinese will have to write something similar a few hundred years from now but I doubt if that civilization will still be in tact by then...”

    posted Tuesday, April 22 2008
  • Salar_Shushan

    salar_shushan said:

    “Collapse didn't read like a single book, more like a collection of works on a theme. This impacted me as a reader - I tended to stop after each section and absorb the facts and thoughts offered for each society before going on to the next topic. Not all conclusions convinced me, and there was a touch of bias now and then, but the book was well worth reading. Most articles/novelets were pretty good Tikopia, New Guinea/Polynesia, Haiti, Japan etc. The explanations for Montana & Greenland Vikings seemed particularly well done. Rwanda could have benefited from a little more research imho. ”

    posted Sunday, February 17 2008
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