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A study of the downfall of some of history's greatest civilizations, written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel, includes coverage of such cultures as the Anasazi, the Maya, and the Viking colony on Greenland, tracing patterns of environmental damage, climate change, poor political choices, and other factors that were pivotal to their demise. 250,000 first printing.
- Sales Rank: #49021 in Books
- Published on: 2004-12-31
- Released on: 2004-12-29
- Ingredients: Example Ingredients
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.58" h x 1.84" w x 6.46" l, 2.18 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 592 pages
Features
- how societies choose to fail or succeeed
Amazon.com Review
Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns, Germs, and Steel explained the geographic and environmental reasons why some human populations have flourished, Collapse uses the same factors to examine why ancient societies, including the Anasazi of the American Southwest and the Viking colonies of Greenland, as well as modern ones such as Rwanda, have fallen apart. Not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, he argues, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. Still, right from the outset of Collapse, the author makes clear that this is not a mere environmentalist's diatribe. He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana as they face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural resources. Once-vital mines now leak toxins into the soil, while prion diseases infect some deer and elk and older hydroelectric dams have become decrepit. On all these issues, and particularly with the hot-button topic of logging and wildfires, Diamond writes with equanimity.
Because he's addressing such significant issues within a vast span of time, Diamond can occasionally speak too briefly and assume too much, and at times his shorthand remarks may cause careful readers to raise an eyebrow. But in general, Diamond provides fine and well-reasoned historical examples, making the case that many times, economic and environmental concerns are one and the same. With Collapse, Diamond hopes to jog our collective memory to keep us from falling for false analogies or forgetting prior experiences, and thereby save us from potential devastations to come. While it might seem a stretch to use medieval Greenland and the Maya to convince a skeptic about the seriousness of global warming, it's exactly this type of cross-referencing that makes Collapse so compelling. --Jennifer Buckendorff
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In his Pulitzer Prize–winning bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, geographer Diamond laid out a grand view of the organic roots of human civilizations in flora, fauna, climate and geology. That vision takes on apocalyptic overtones in this fascinating comparative study of societies that have, sometimes fatally, undermined their own ecological foundations. Diamond examines storied examples of human economic and social collapse, and even extinction, including Easter Island, classical Mayan civilization and the Greenland Norse. He explores patterns of population growth, overfarming, overgrazing and overhunting, often abetted by drought, cold, rigid social mores and warfare, that lead inexorably to vicious circles of deforestation, erosion and starvation prompted by the disappearance of plant and animal food sources. Extending his treatment to contemporary environmental trouble spots, from Montana to China to Australia, he finds today's global, technologically advanced civilization very far from solving the problems that plagued primitive, isolated communities in the remote past. At times Diamond comes close to a counsel of despair when contemplating the environmental havoc engulfing our rapidly industrializing planet, but he holds out hope at examples of sustainability from highland New Guinea's age-old but highly diverse and efficient agriculture to Japan's rigorous program of forest protection and, less convincingly, in recent green consumerism initiatives. Diamond is a brilliant expositor of everything from anthropology to zoology, providing a lucid background of scientific lore to support a stimulating, incisive historical account of these many declines and falls. Readers will find his book an enthralling, and disturbing, reminder of the indissoluble links that bind humans to nature. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–This powerful call to action should be read by all high school students. Diamond eloquently and persuasively describes the environmental and social problems that led to the collapse of previous civilizations and threaten us today. The book's organization makes researching particular regions or types of damage accessible. Unfamiliar words are defined, and mention of a place or issue that has been described in greater detail elsewhere includes relevant page numbers. Students may become impatient with the folksy Montana fishing stories in part one, but once the fascinating account of the vanished civilizations begins, readers are taken on an extraordinary journey. Using the Mayan empire, Easter Island, the Anasazi, and other examples, the author shows how a combination of environmental factors such as habitat destruction, the loss of biodiversity, and degradation of the soil caused complex, flourishing societies to suddenly disintegrate. Modern societies are divided into those that have begun to collapse, such as Rwanda and Haiti; those whose conservation policies have helped to avert disaster, such as Iceland and Japan; and those currently dealing with massive problems, such as Australia and China. Diamond is a cautious optimist. Some of his most compelling stories show how two groups of people sharing the same land, such as the Norse and Inuit in Greenland, can end up in completely different situations depending on how they address their problems. The solutions discussed are of vital importance: how societies respond to environmental degradation will determine how teens will live their adult lives. As Diamond points out, in a collapsing civilization, being rich just means being the last to starve. Black-and-white photos are included.–Kathy Tewell, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Most helpful customer reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Lessons from the Past:
By LastRanger
"Collapse" is my third Jared Diamond book and, as before, he does not disappoint. Combining Anthropology, History and Geography with Environmental studies of how humans use, and misuse, Natural Resources, Diamond draws interesting insights into past societies and how their fates can relate to our modern world. To support his conclusions Diamond cites the findings and thoughts of many specialists, past and present, as well as his own field research at various locations around the world. With in depth proses "Collapse" gives the reader plenty of food for thought. Starting with his experiences in modern day Montana, Diamond examines the state's issues with logging, mining, soil erosion, water conservation and wildlife, both native and foreign. The insights by local ranchers, miners, loggers, rural and urban people give you an idea on how Montanans feel about government regulations and laws on those issues. Moving on to past societies the author follows the same scenario. In depth histories of such far flung places as Easter Island, Greenland and Iceland, New Guinea and Japan explains how they may have dealt with the same environmental problems that plague us today. I really enjoyed the Easter Island history and how this isolated speck of land moved from a sub-tropical paradise to a barren, treeless island and what role religion may have played in it's story. Up north the Vikings were facing their own problems when they colonized Greenland. At first they did well but conditions slowly deteriorated and when the Inuit returned, the Norse colonist were faced with human competitors as well as environmental challenges. The Anasazi and the Mayans are also looked at, how each society dealt with changing conditions and leaders that failed to address their many problems of population and environment. Changing to modern societies Diamond looks at the Rwandan Genocide, the issues faced by The Dominican Republic and Haiti. China's and Australia's evolving societies and how they are moving into today's world. With all this background Diamond discuses his conclusions and poses questions like; Why do some societies make the wrong decisions? What role do Big Business and the environment play in our future survival? The chapter on Big Business is especially enlightening with segments on Oil and Mining Companies, the Logging and Seafood Industry and how these vital businesses effect our future, for good or ill. Lastly he poses the question of what, if anything, can we learn from past societies's successes and failures. This is a great book, one that covers a lot of issues and gives both sides of the story. Jared Diamond is one of the best writers of science and history. He consistently takes me into new realms of wonder with interesting topics and unique insights. While I experienced no down loading problems with this Kindle edition is did notice a couple of "quality control" issues. Through out the book there were several places where punctuation's were left out and in the chapter on the Vikings in Greenland; the word "fjord" was replaced with "3ord". In neither case was the problem bad enough so that I couldn't follow the text, nonetheless it showed a certain lack of that quality control by the publisher. Regardless, this is a book well worth reading and I'm glad to have it on my Kindle.
Last Ranger
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Well researched case studies on the failure and success of different societies
By Derek Kim
A great read especially for those who enjoyed Guns, Germs and Steel. This book is organized more like an academic paper though not written in an overly academic language. Diamond supports his thesis with several case studies based on evidence from various sciences such as palynology, archaeology and genetics. He argues that societies ability to succeed or fail is based on five variables though not all five are always applicable. These variables include environmental degradation, climate change, conflicts with neighboring peoples, positive relationships especially trade with neighboring peoples and the societies' ability to adapt and change. Though a well researched book, those expecting another Guns, Germs and Steel may be disappointed as this book is a bit more academic.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Important environmental history
By Jon Sherr
Jared Diamond combines numerous fields in his exploration for why societies collapse. The chapters on the Greenland Norse and Hispaniola contrasting Haiti and Dominican Republic provide fascinating past and present examples for how environmental issues can drive societies to economic misery, decline and collapse. Diamond provides many other examples, including a discussion on Montana's environmental and social challenges to start the book. As Diamond points out, the environmental challenges we face today are solvable and controllable by human populations. History provides us lessons we can apply to today's policies. Yet, many societies fail to recognize the challenges faced or fail to solve them. Great read if you're interested in environmental history and how environmental problems drive economic and political instability.
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