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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition by [Diamond, Jared]
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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition Kindle Edition

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4.1 out of 5 stars 831 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • File Size: 8366 KB
  • Print Length: 621 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0140279512
  • Publisher: Penguin Books; Revised edition (January 4, 2011)
  • Publication Date: January 4, 2011
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B004H0M8EA
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray:
  • Word Wise: Enabled
  • Lending: Not Enabled
  • Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,208 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsThe discipline of geography is back!
By Ellis O. Jones on January 7, 2005
Format: Hardcover
"Collapse" is a wonderful book! Prof. Diamond combines hard science, rigorous historical research, and his own personal knowledge of people from the Bitterroot Valley of Montana to the west coast of Greenland to Rwanda to the highlands of New Guineau. He pulls together clear and compelling explanations of how events unfolded (and are still unfolding) in various parts of the world.

His accounts of various human communities draw on real data from a wide variety of academic fields, including isotope analysis, pollen analysis, tree-ring analysis, seismology, agronomy, archaeology, sociology, and even the history of religion. His explanations of each of these disciplines are lucid without oversimplification. But, the strength of the book comes from the the way he combines results from all these fields to create straightforward narratives of what might have happened as various communities rose and fell.

If I were I high school "social studies" teacher I would be talking to my principal today, saying "I want to put together an honors-level geography course and I want to use this as the textbook."

I do have one criticism. The subject matter of the book is tremendously consequential to people alive today, and hopefully "policy wonks" in governments will study the book and take it seriously. But, the title is a bit inflammatory. What's more, Prof. Diamond makes sure to explain the significance for the United States of his accounts of the demise of various ancient communities. Some of these explanations extrapolate from ancient situations to modern in a way that isn't quite as solid as the rest of the book. Diamond's extrapolations are very cleary marked as such. However, I am still afraid that they, combined with the title, will provide an excuse for people to dismiss the book as a "pro-environment anti-business" ideological polemic. That would be unfortunate, because it is actually balanced and nuanced in its explanation of the human condition.
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4.0 out of 5 starsThere is no somewhere else
By Dr. Robert C.A. Goff, MCSD, MCSE, MCDBA on January 13, 2005
Format: Hardcover
About 15 years ago, I was shocked to read the results of an American aerial survey of roads in remote areas of the country, which concluded that there is (in 1990) no place in the continental United States that is more than about 20 miles, as the crow flies, from the nearest road. At Philmont Scout Ranch in the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rockies in NE New Mexico, to which many hundreds of Scouts travel each summer for an extended "wilderness" hike, the paths, directions and speeds of each of the flood of hiking parties is managed on a wall-size map in their war room, much like a flight control room of a modern airport. The conscious purpose of the war room is to present "the illusion of wilderness" to the hikers, by preventing them from seeing that there are crowds of other hikers nearby in every direction, only hidden by a bend, a ridge, a ravine.

In one of Jared Diamond's earlier books, Guns, Germs and Steel, he explored the role of man's natural environment in shaping the unique nature of the human societies that emerged in different regions of the world. It was backed by a prodigious body of research spanning anthropology, physiology, botany, archeology, animal behavior and climatology, to name only a few fields. Although his conclusions were satisfying and plausible, the subjects were too remote in time to garner more than a smile and a nod of the head. The paucity of detailed evidence regarding the biologic emergence of man, and man's development of agriculture, animal domestication and civilization, dooms Dr. Diamond's conclusions on those subjects to the realm of conjecture.

Now we are presented with the other side of the equation: the role of man's behavior in shaping the environments in which he lives.Read more ›
5 Comments 501 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsHistory, ecology, technology, politics, and a warning rolled into one...
By ewomack TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on January 16, 2006
Format: Paperback
A debate between two camps continues to rage. One side thinks that the modern world continues to careen toward a non-sustainable future and impending doom. The other group thinks that "environmentalists" exaggerate their claims about a coming ecological crash. As usual the sides remain somewhat unproductively polarized with neither giving an inch to the other. This book's title exposes where Jared Diamond's sympathies stand, but he also takes some surprisingly neutral views. For one, he claims that some contemporary businesses have in fact successfully taken environmental concerns into consideration, and that these concerns have made them money and boosted their respect globally. Diamond doesn't believe that big business and environmental groups necessarily remain indissoluble enemies. And he goes further by suggesting that environmentalists should unabashedly praise those companies that have suceeded in balancing economics with ecology. "Collapse", though admittedly more slanted towards the environmental side of the continuum, nonetheless tries to narrow the gap between the two aforementioned camps.

"Collapse" takes the reader on a dizzying historical and global tour. The chapters weave in and out of modern, ancient, and medieval worlds. Along the way Diamond extrapolates which behaviors have threatened (or arguably are currently threatening) a significant inexorable decline in a particular society's population. By juxtaposing past and present societies he hopes to reveal the simularities between societies that no longer exist and the trends of the world today. The book surreptitously asks whether our current world is threatened by a global collapse.

Diamond uses a "five-point framework" to analyze various societies.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Superb book.

Published 2 days ago by Leo Park
4.0 out of 5 starsInnovative view of past (and present) societies

An excellent book, with innovative perspectives. At times, evalution of past societies results too extensive. Overall, very good reading

Published 2 days ago by Horacio Serebrinsky
5.0 out of 5 starsCollapse

Bought this as a gift, so relying on feedback of the recipient only.

Published 10 days ago by DIY Guy
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book.

Great book. Well written, very informative. Recommended to all those who care about the world we're living in.

Published 12 days ago by Claire
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Husband enjoyed.

Published 20 days ago by Betty J. Jones
4.0 out of 5 starsWell worth a read - we may be a future 'Collapse'

Great piece of work. Very thought provoking. Get's a little tedious at times. Well worth a read - we may be a future 'Collapse' (especially if you vote for Trump!).

Published 22 days ago by Eric
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

It was a class assigned reading.

Published 1 month ago by erica harris
3.0 out of 5 starsInteresting, but lack of economic knowledge hurts quality

Interesting but flawed, Diamond doesn't have the proper understanding of economics to really evaluate the material. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Liberty_One
1.0 out of 5 starsOne Star

Have yet to start this one. Look forward to his insights.

Published 1 month ago by Capt. Rob Clark
4.0 out of 5 starsalthough the book was written in 2005, it grabbed ...

although the book was written in 2005, it grabbed me. I started with the chapter on Haiti and Dom Rep since Montana chapter was a bit too vague for me. Read more

Published 1 month ago by jorien

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