Book SummaryGuns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Guns, Germs, and Steel

Guns, Germs, and Steel is Jared Diamond’s attempt to determine why societies historically took different paths. It was named one of TIME’s best non-fiction books of all time, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1998, and turned into a PBS documentary released in 2005.

After completing his doctorate at Cambridge University, Diamond did research among the remote tribes of New Guinea. It was there that he became interested in figuring out why the local tribespeople—whom he saw as every bit as intelligent and capable as he—never developed writing, steel tools, centralized governments, or a complex society like that of the British colonists who annexed New Guinea in the 19th century.

He became convinced that differences between such societies were caused by environmental factors that affected their historical development, not biological differences between the people of the societies. These differences led Eurasians—people living in Asia, Europe, and North Africa, by Diamond’s account—to historically have strategic advantages over non-Eurasians.

(Shortform note: Some of Diamond’s critics argue that [his explanation for the differences between societies is...

Guns, Germs, and Steel Summary It Started With Adequate Food Production

Diamond argues that the development of advanced civilizations depended first on the development of varied, abundant, and dependable food sources. This food production was achieved through the invention of agriculture, which gave rise to the strategic advantages listed above and which we’ll detail in the following sections.

(Shortform note: Some scholars claim that Diamond places too much stock in the idea that agriculture revolutionized the lifestyle of early humans. They feel there’s little evidence to distinguish foragers from farmers: Early civilizations practiced foraging while they farmed for millennia—so it’s not clear that farming should be seen as a starting point from which different societies diverged. Nevertheless, Diamond’s argument is supported by a population boom found in the archaeological record which suggests that the widespread adoption of farming did have significant effects on societies.)

**Diamond says Eurasia could develop such food sources...

Guns, Germs, and Steel Summary The Advantage of Knowledge

Eurasians developed advanced knowledge leading to innovations that gave them advantages over societies whose knowledge was more limited, writes Diamond.

Some of these key innovations were: durable metal weapons, armor, and tools; efficient means of transport such as the wheel and oceangoing ships; navigational equipment; and written language. When Eurasians traveled across the ocean to the Americas, their metal armor and guns were superior to the wood, bone, leather, and stone weapons and armor of the indigenous peoples. Moreover, the written languages of the Eurasians facilitated clear communication, which both inspired and coordinated expeditions and conquest. For these and other reasons, the invaders quickly subdued the Native Americans despite their having been established on the continent for millennia.

(Shortform note: Some scholars believe that Diamond has sugarcoated colonialism and contributed to the destructive spirit of conquest. The problem with Diamond’s view, as they see it, is that [he makes conquest and...

Guns, Germs, and Steel Summary The Advantage of Centralized Government

In addition to having more advanced knowledge, Eurasia benefitted from having more centralized governments, contends Diamond. Societies that had centralized governments, organized with hierarchies of authority and specialized roles, came to dominate societies that didn’t organize themselves this way.

Centralized societies were better able to initiate and coordinate complex activities such as construction projects and wars of conquest. Rulers could give unilateral commands and mobilize armies through numerous subordinate leaders. They could justify wars and individual sacrifice by appealing to religious authority and the spirit of social unity. By contrast, egalitarian societies that viewed everyone as basically equal couldn’t easily unite around a single authority, so they were less able to coordinate large-scale cooperation and encourage self-sacrifice for a common good.

(Shortform note: While centralized societies may have been more successful in conquest, not all scholars believe they’re better forms of social organization. They point out that [one reason centralized societies engaged in conquest in the first place was that they were more unstable than egalitarian...

Guns, Germs, and Steel Summary The Advantage of Epidemic Diseases

Diamond claims the final advantage Eurasian societies had over other continents was a blessing in disguise: epidemic diseases.

For those encountering epidemic microbes for the first time, the results are often deadly. However, if a person has survived previous exposure, they typically have some level of immunity to the disease. Therefore, societies that had the chance to develop immunities to epidemic diseases had a significant advantage over those that didn’t.

Such societies could unwittingly wipe out a population of previously unexposed people without ever wielding a weapon, thereby clearing the way for new settlements on once-occupied land. For example, according to Diamond, archaeologists estimate that the population of the Americas declined by as much as 95% in the years following Columbus’s arrival—much of this was due to the spread of diseases such as smallpox.

(Shortform note: Recent estimates indicate that the population of the Americas declined by 90% after the arrival of Europeans (who carried numerous epidemic diseases with them, including typhus and smallpox). The population loss was approximately 10% of the total world population at the time. Experts believe...

Shortform Exercise: Reflect on the Role of Choice

Diamond emphasizes the importance of environmental and geographical influences on the development of societies, and he’s been criticized for minimizing the role of individual choice. In this exercise, you’ll reflect on the way individual choice interacts with other influences to affect how events unfold.

Think of a historical event we’ve discussed in this summary. In the box below, describe how environmental, geographic, or other external factors affected the way this event unfolded.